KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The Kansas City Royals announced today that they have acquired right-handed pitchers Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek from the San Diego Padres for catcher Freddy Fermin.
Bergert (bur-GURT), 25, made his Major League debut earlier this season and went 1-0 with a 2.78 ERA (11 ER in 35.2 IP) in 11 appearances (7 starts) with San Diego, while holding opponents to a .186 average (24-for-129). He didn’t earn a decision in any of his 7 starts, despite allowing 3 runs or fewer in all of them, and the Padres went 6-1 in those games.
Bergert was selected by San Diego out of West Virginia University in the 6th round of the 2021 Draft, after undergoing Tommy John Surgery following the 2020 season. He was named an MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2023 and was added to San Diego’s 40-man roster last November.
Kolek (COLE-ick), 28, went 4-5 with a 4.18 ERA (37 ER in 79.2 IP) this season with San Diego and has completed at least 5.0 innings in 12 of 14 starts. He’s induced 17 groundball double plays in just 14 starts, 2nd most in the Majors to José Soriano’s 24.
On May 10 of this season—in his 2nd career start—Kolek recorded a complete game shutout in San Diego’s 21-0 victory at Coors Field. It was 1 of only 10 shutouts in the Majors this season, and he became the fourth pitcher since 2010 to record a shutout within his 1st 2 career starts. It was the 1st shutout by a visiting pitcher at Coors Field since Clayton Kershaw did it on July 2, 2013.
Kolek was selected by the Dodgers in the 11th round of the 2018 Draft out of Texas A&M University, and was traded to Seattle in 2021. In December 2023, he was selected by San Diego in the Rule 5 Draft and made the Padres 2024 Opening Day roster. Kolek made relief 42 appearances last season before suffering a season-ending injury in July.
Fermin, 30, has played in parts of four seasons with Kansas City since making his Major League debut in 2022, and has made the Opening Day roster in each of the last two seasons.