CINCINNATI -- Mark Kolozsvary’s baseball travels took him to the other side of the world earlier this summer, but his latest stop will undoubtedly be the most memorable.
The 26-year-old catching prospect, who was part of the USA Olympic Baseball team in Tokyo, Japan, was called up by the Reds prior to Monday's opener with the Pirates. It’s his first promotion to the big leagues.
Kolozsvary replaced catcher Tyler Stephenson, who was placed on the injured list.
Kolozsvary split the 2021 season between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Louisville. He played in 15 games for the Bats, logging eight hits in 46 at-bats (.174) with a homer and two RBIs. In 40 games for the Lookouts, he batted .233 (34-for-146) with 12 doubles and 26 RBIs.
Reds fans may remember Kolozsvary, ranked the club’s No. 26 prospect per MLB Pipeline, for the home run he hit off 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber during a Spring Training “B” game earlier this year.
More notably, Kolozsvary was named to Team USA by manager Mike Scioscia, and he batted .190 in six games in the Olympics. The team earned a silver medal.
“Definitely just trying to bring home a gold, that’s something I think is really cool to say you can try to do,” Kolozsvary said when he first learned of making the team in July. “In the past, I’ve been a part of some pretty big games in college, and this will be something very cool to accomplish.”
Kolozsvary was a seventh-round pick out of Florida in the 2017 MLB Draft.