After being acquired by the Dodgers from the Tampa Bay Rays at the July 31 trade deadline in exchange for minor league outfielder Niko Hulsizer, 30-year-old lefty one-out guy (LOOGY) Adam Kolarek appeared in 26 regular-season games for the Dodgers. During that time, he faced a total of 45 batters, to whom he made a total of 167 pitches. That’s it.

Kolarek finished the regular season with a 2-0 record and an alien-like 0.77 ERA, having allowed exactly one earned run on nine total hits in his combined 11.2 innings pitch. That’s it.

On Thursday night during Game-1 of the 2019 National League Division Series against the Washington Nationals, the extremely polite Baltimore, MD native and 11th-round draft pick by the New York Mets out of the University of Maryland in College Park faced one batter. That one batter just so happened to be left-handed-hitting Nationals right fielder Juan Soto; the same Juan Soto whose base hit in the bottom of the eighth inning of the National League Wild Card game against the Milwaukee Brewers got the Nationals to the NLDS. In other words, arguably the most dangerous guy (along with All-Star third baseman Anthony Rendon) in Washington’s lineup, with the Dodgers holding onto a (then) precarious 1-0 lead.

The sidearm-slinging Kolarek struck Soto out swinging on three pitches.

Got my man.

And then in Game-2 of the best of five series, Kolarek was again called upon to face (wait for it…) Juan Soto in the top of the seventh inning of a then 3-1 deficit. This time, however, there was one out and runners on first and second. Although Kolarek did not strike out Soto this time in a nine-pitch that included five foul balls, he did get the dangerous left-handed hitter to ground out … but not your typical ground out.

On that ninth pitch, Soto hit a sharp grounder to the third-base side of the mound that Kolarek instinctively tried to field but instead deflected the ball. Fortunately, Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager was somehow able to field the ball and throw out the speedy Soto at first base on a bang-bang 1-6-3 play, albeit with the runners advancing to second and third on what otherwise would have been a routine inning-ending 6-4-2 double play.

Got my man.

Dodgers rookie right-hander (and future starter) Dustin May then came in to relieve Kolarek and got Nationals second baseman Howie Kendrick to ground out to Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux to end the inning and the threat. Unfortunately, the Dodgers would fall to the Nats 4-2 because of their complete lack of offense.

So, what was it like pitching to one of the best hitters in the game in his first – and second – postseason appearances in extremely high-leverage situations?

“I think [Thursday] especially, the build-up and everything. It’s what you see as a kid all the time,” Kolarek said. “It’s the lining up on the line, the introductions, the Anthem, the huge flag in center field, it’s all the little stuff that adds to the spectacle of playoff baseball. So I think that was what I was most looking forward to as far as stull that’s outside the game and getting to experience that for the first time. It was a gorgeous night, the fireworks shooting off. All that stuff is really special even for a player.”

How’s that for a metaphor?

But what about when that bullpen gate opens and you enter postseason baseball for the first time?

“That’s what every reliever really lives for and looks forward to,” Kolarek answered. “That view when the gate opens and you see the stadium as a whole, the crowd, and then you have the open field right in front of you and it’s your turn to try to get somebody out, it’s hard to explain.

“I like to walk on the warning track and then start my jog on the grass and kind of let my first few steps be slower to get my mind right and then attack once I start running in,” he added.

As for that ground ball, Kolarek confirmed that it was indeed his taught baseball instincts that told him to go for it.

“With the shift set, I know where everybody was at prior to making the pitch,” Kolarek explained. “In the moment, it’s a crazy feeling just because you have to evaluate a lot of stuff really fast. That was one of those examples where I think the ball was actually kind of hit softer than I originally thought. But the positioning that we were in, I think that it was going to be bang-bang for a double play anyway.

“I think I would still do what I did again, I’d rather be more aggressive than passive. I’d hate to be wrong the other way,” added Kolarek. “I’d hate to not go for a ball that should have been mine. You’re taught as a kid in any sport you make an aggressive mistake, so that’s my approach.”

Don’t change a thing, Adam.

Play Ball!

    *    *    *    *    *