Background
He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Catonsville High School.
He was born in Baltimore, Maryland and attended Catonsville High School.
He later attended University of Maryland, where he played from 2008 to 2010.
He is 6" 3" and 215 pounds. In 2008, he was 2-1 with a 4.26 European Research Area in 21 appearances. In 2009, he was 2-1 with a 4.68 European Research Area in 26 games and in 2010, he was 1-4 with a 6.06 European Research Area in 13 games (five starts).
Ranked as one of the top 50 lefthanders in the country, Kolarek was drafted by the Mets in the 11th round of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft, ahead of future major league All-Star outfielder Joc Pederson.
He pitched for the Kingsport Mets and Brooklyn Cyclones in 2010 and went 2-1 with a 3.13 European Research Area in 22 games between them. In 37 1/3 innings, he allowed 19 hits and had 45 strikeouts.
Had he qualified, he would have led Kingsport in WHIP with a mark of 0.643. He pitched for the Savannah Sand Gnats and Saint Lucie Mets in 2011, going 7-1 with a 2.85 European Research Area in 26 games.
His 1.000 winning percentage for Savannah tied for the team and league lead, In 2012, he went 1-3 with 18 saves, 70 strikeouts and a 2.37 European Research Area in 44 games (57 innings) for Saint Lucie, earning a spot on the Florida State League All-Star team
He also pitched 6 games for the Binghamton Mets and posted a 2-0 record with a 5.68 European Research Area. He was a MiLB.com Organization All-Star and a FSL Post-Season All-Star that year. He led Saint Lucie in games and games finished that year. He led the entire league in saves.
In the Arizona Fall League, he had a 2.92 European Research Area in nine games for the Surprise Saguaros.
In 2013, he was 3-3 with a 1.71 European Research Area in 44 games for Binghamton. In his first taste of Triple-A, he had a 11.25 European Research Area in 2 appearances for the Las Vegas 51s as well.
He spent some time with the big league club during 2014 spring training. Back with Binghamton for that year"s regular season, his European Research Area was 6.07 in 48 appearances, though he had a 1.12 mark in six games for the Gigantes de Carolina in the Puerto Rican Winter League.
He began 2015 with Binghamton. he has been ranked among the Mets" top prospects and is projected as a future LOOGY. His father, Frank Kolarek, played in the minor leagues in the 1970s and 1980s.
