Back in March of 2021 Mark Kolozsvary took Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber deep on the backfields in Goodyear during spring training. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come in 2021 for the catcher.
When the minor league season began two months later the Reds sent Mark Kolozsvary to Double-A Chattanooga. The Lookouts first series of the year was against Rocket City and that’s basically what they referred to every ball that Kolozsvary hit in the series as he went 7-11 with four doubles and two home runs in four games against the Trash Pandas. He didn’t really slow down much over the next series, either, hitting .400 in the next five games.
In late May he would leave Chattanooga and head off to play participate in a training camp with Team USA as they began to finalize their team for qualifying for the summer Olympics. Shortly after that camp Team USA headed into qualifying and over their four games Kolozsvary was the team’s best hitter, posting a .417/.588/1.000 line with two home runs in their four qualifying games.
Kolozsvary returned to Chattanooga on June 9th. Over the next two weeks he played in 11 games and had hits in eight of those games. But he went into a slump after that, going just 4-37 (.108) over a 3-week stretch before he once again left to join Team USA – this time to participate in the Olympics where he helped Team USA to a silver medal.
When the catcher returned he only spent a little over a week back with Chattanooga, and picked up two more home runs against poor Rocket City before he was promoted to Triple-A. In his first two weeks with Louisville he went 7-27 with four extra-base hits. While he struggled down the stretch, going 4-31 with 15 strikeouts over the final three weeks for Louisville he got his first call up to the big leagues when Cincinnati needed a catcher for a few days. He never entered a game, but did spend two days on the roster with the team before returning to Triple-A.
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Mark Kolozsvary Scouting Report
Position: Catcher | B/T: R/R
Height: 5′ 8″ | Weight: 180 lbs | Acquired: 7th Round (2017)
Born: September 4, 1995
Hitting | He has a below-average hit tool.
Power | He has below-average power.
Speed | Like most catchers he has below-average speed.
Defense | He has plus defense.
Arm | He has an above-average arm.
Defense carries the scouting report for Mark Kolozsvary. And when it comes to a catcher that’s what teams value the most – their defense and how they can handle/work with a pitching staff. With his combination of defense, arm, and how he reportedly works with a pitching staff, Kolozsvary brings everything to the table that you want to see from a catcher.
At the plate is where Kolozsvary has had struggles in his career. He’s a career .223/.330/.353 hitter in the minors. While there’s a chance that he’s a better hitter than that, his bat doesn’t project to be that of a starting caliber player. There’s a little more power potential in his bat than he’s shown to this point in his career, but it’s still expected to be a bit below-average.
The ceiling isn’t too high because of the expectations for the bat. But the floor is high because Kolozsvary is very good defensively at the most important defensive position on the field. He’s going to get some big league time for his defense if nothing else. And there’s a chance he can be a pretty solid backup catcher.
Mark Kolozsvary Spray Chart
Interesting Stat on Mark Kolozsvary
In 56 plate appearances against Rocket City he hit .357/.518/.833. He hit .185/.271/.278 against everyone else in 181 plate appearances during the season.
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If he can do the job defensively, the backup spot is probably his. Personally, I think he’ll be a lot like Barnhart—show just enough with the bat to make people forget that the overall body of work is lacking.
Doug, what are your thoughts on Chuckie Robinson? His second stint in AA was pretty good. Probably not the better defender, but I wonder if his bat could offset that?
I know that we are still adjusting a little bit with the age/level thing because 2020 was lost, but he’s now a 27-year-old who was the second catcher in Double-A last year. Catchers can and do show up to the big leagues later than any other position player, but he feels like a guy who might get a cup of coffee when a 3rd/4th catcher is needed more than anything else.
He turned 26 (not 27) in September. Given the Covid year, he merits a bit of a reprieve on prospect status.
I think he can be a glove-first backup catcher, but I also think that he needs some more AAA bats to get there. I suspect that the Reds will use find a veteran on the scrap heap to start the season, and then use Kolozsvary in that role at the end of the year or next year, assuming he can show that he can at least hit a little bit.
Kolo is the King of the HBP. He got hit 13 times in 2018; 17 times in 2019 in 291 PAs, and 10 times in 237 PAs last year. It’s given him a career .330 MiLB OBP, even if it is probably a bad long-term strategy against MLB pitchers throwing 98 MPH. He got hit 6 times in 67 PAs in AAA.
Ed – I was referencing Chuckie Robinson being 27.
Do you have an age cutoff for prospects, and what is it?
I think generally 26 has been the age where I basically stop considering someone as a guy to even think of including in the Top 25. That gets a little wiggle room right now because of 2020 and how that played out. There’s always going to be some exceptions to that rule, but that’s generally where I’ve been at.
This is one of the reasons Friedl is not in my top 25. He is 26 years old now and still a prospect. 2022 and 2023 should be his peak years and there is no guarantee he will be in Cincinnati. At this point Winker, Senzel and Naquin appear to be starters. Shogo at #4 and Aquino is out of options so maybe him at #5. That would put Friedl back in Louisville even though he is better than Shogo and Aquino. Then again Shogo has 3 options remaining also.
To counter this though 2020 was a somewhat lost season. That said Friedl and Kolozsvary are both 26. Neither are locks to make the show out of spring training.
They really need a right handed bat in a backup role so Friedl needs to hope Shogo gets moved.
Maybe they send Shogo to Louisville and keep Friedl.
Stock – I never factor in whether a guy will be able to find the playing time in their specific organization. Things happen. I’m more worried about what they can be if given the chance and I think Friedl can be a solid dude out there.
@Stock They just need to cut ties with Shogo, and his 7M. It would be a tough pill to swallow, but they don’t use him enough to get any value out of him anyway. I still feel if he was an everyday guy, he’d be OK, but as a rarely used guy, who hasn’t got enough swings against MLB pitching, he’s bad. The good thing about Aquino is the pop off the bench, but I’d be ok with moving on from him to. I’m taking Cedrola as my 4th, and only backup OF. He can play good D across all 3 spots. Keep Friedl in the minors until he’s needed because of injury. Your bench could be Schrock, Farmer, Cedrola, Backup Catcher
Mark is definitely the product of good scouting as he was the #3 catcher at the U of FLA. I remember asking his former teammate Scott Moss about him the week after the draft and he told me he didn’t play much but should have played a lot more.
Saw a trade proposal of akiyama a to Phillies for gregorius and $8 million.
Philly needs cf and needs to dump some salary to fill other holes. Akiyama is sunk cost wasted for reds and need someone to back up rookie Barerò at ss, could play 2b or 3b in a pinch. If he starts off good trade him to a contender.
Let senzel and friedel platoon in cf. either way, Akiyama is a bust.