Mark Kolozsvary

Mark Daniel Kolozsvary

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of Florida
• High School Tavares High School, Mount Dora Bible High School
• Debut April 20, 2022

• Born September 4, 1995 in Eustis, FL USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Catcher Mark Kolozsvary played on Team USA and at the Olympics before making his major league debut.

He hit .333 as a high school senior. He was 5 for 18 with a double and a walk as a college freshman, including a pinch-hit single in the 2015 College World Series. He was 4 for 17 with two homers as a sophomore and batted .276/.381/.440 as a junior, backing up Mike Rivera. He also played in the College World Series in 2016 and 2017 as Florida was a powerhouse team during his three years there.

The Cincinnati Reds took him in the 7th round of the 2017 amateur draft, one pick before Nick Margevicius. The scout was Sean Buckley. He made his pro debut with the Billings Mustangs and got to be a starter unlike in his college days, producing at a .305/.362/.411 clip. In 2018, he hit .225/.310/.324 for the Dayton Dragons, splitting duties with Hendrik Clementina. He batted .200/.294/.267 for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.

He moved up to the Daytona Tortugas in 2019 but slipped to .188/.341/.321. He missed 2020 as the minor league season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He began 2021 excellently with the Chattanooga Lookouts (.349/.417/.674, 8 2B, 10 RBI in 12 G). He then made Team USA's squad for the 2021 Americas Olympic Qualifier, joining veteran Tim Federowicz and beating out four-time All-Star Matt Wieters at catcher. He did a fine job, starting for the US. He hit .417/.588/1.000 with five runs in four games, homering off Nicaragua's Carlos Téller and the Dominican Republic's Radhames Liz. He tied Diego Goris for 5th in the event in runs, tied for fourth in home runs, was second to Roel Santos in OBP, tied Hernán Pérez for second in slugging (behind Erisbel Arruebarruena) and was second to Arruebarruena in OPS. He had no errors in 44 chances and threw out the only runner who tried to steal. He was a key part of the US winning a spot in the Tokyo Olympics. He remained the US starter for the Olympics, but did not do as well there - .190/.261/.190, .983 FLD%, opponents going 4-for-5 in steal attempts. He did have a three-hit game against host Japan. The USA won Silver, Kolozsvary going 0 for 4 in the Gold Medal Game against Masato Morishita, Hiromi Itoh and Ryoji Kuribayashi. He cooled off as the summer went on, finishing at .233/.341/.438 in 40 games for the Lookouts and .190/.299/.310 in 19 games for the Louisville Bats. He was 1 for 10 with four walks to open 2022 with Chattanooga.

He made his major league debut with the Reds on April 20, 2022 after starting catcher Tyler Stephenson had to be placed on the concussion list following a violent home plate collision with Luke Voit of the San Diego Padres the previous day. He entered the game against the same Padres in the bottom of the 7th as a defensive replacement after Jake Fraley had pinch-hit for starting catcher Aramis Garcia. He did not get to bat in the 6-0 loss.

His unusual last name is typically Hungarian.

Related Sites

• Mark Kolozsvary on mlb.com
• BR Register page
• University of Florida bio