Padres Recall Starting Pitcher, Option Stephen Kolek In Surprise Move

The San Diego Padres recalled left-handed pitcher Kyle Hart from Triple-A El Paso, optioning right-hander Stephen Kolek in a corresponding move on Sunday.

We have recalled LHP Kyle Hart from Triple-A El Paso and optioned RHP Stephen Kolek to El Paso. RHP David Morgan will be our starting pitcher for tonight’s game vs TEX.
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) July 6, 2025

Hart will not serve as the starting pitcher Sunday, as the Padres announced David Morgan will get the ball for Sunday's rubber match against the Texas Rangers. However, he is likely to take over a majority of the innings.

The Padres just added Kyle Hart to the roster and optioned Stephen Kolek to Triple-A El Paso. RHP David Morgan is still slated to start tonight, but I'd expect the lefty Hart to cover the bulk of the innings.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) July 6, 2025

Hart has made six appearances for the Padres this season, all of which were starts. He has a 6.66 ERA through 25.2 innings, and last appeared in MLB on May 28 against the Miami Marlins.

The Padres optioned him to Triple-A May 30 to make room on the roster for Bradgley Rodriguez, who is now back in Triple-A. Since going back to Triple-A, Hart has posted a 6.57 ERA through 24.2 innings and is allowing an opposing batting average of .311.

Kolek has been a regular in the Padres rotation since his call up May 4, and started strong in the majors this season. He pitched 14.1 innings in his first two starts, not allowing a single run and pitching the first complete game shutout of his MLB career.

As of late, however, he has not been as effective. He has allowed three or more runs in four of his last five starts, and the six earned runs he allowed in Saturday's game against the Rangers were the most he had allowed all season.

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The Padres will hope Hart and Morgan can combine for a strong outing on Sunday at 6:10 p.m. PT, where they will hope to put some distance between themselves and the San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Wild Card race.

For more Padres news, head over to Padres on SI.