Latrobe grad Jared Kollar racking up wins for Padres' Double-A affiliate

Jared Kollar is not considered a top 30 prospect in the San Diego Padres’ farm system, but his stock certainly isn’t falling, either.

The right-hander from Latrobe who starts for the San Antonio Missions in Double-A has 15 wins in two seasons in the minors.

This season, he is 8-3 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 starts. He has 63 strikeouts and 15 walks in 70 1/3 innings with a WHIP of 1.27.

Kollar, who signed with San Diego in 2022 as a free agent, allowed two runs on six hits over five innings in a recent win to give him his eighth win, which was tied for the most in the Texas League.

Kollar pitched effectively at Seton Hill before playing his final season at Rutgers.

Zach Kokoska

Another Latrobe product who, in fact, teamed with Kollar in 2017 to lead Latrobe to WPIAL and PIAA 5A titles, is swinging a hot bat for the Hartford Yard Goats, the Colorado Rockies’ Double-A affiliate.

Kokoska, a 10th-round draft pick in 2021 out of Kansas State, sent up a rocket on the Fourth of July. His upper-deck blast to right marked his 12th home run of the season and 42nd of his seven-year minor-league career.

Kokoska is hitting .214/.307/.471 in 62 games with 12 homers, 15 doubles and 44 RBIs.

He hit 16 homers and drove in 53 last season for Spokane in Advanced Class A ball.

JJ Matijevic

The former Norwin slugger who won a World Series ring as a taxi squad player with the Houston Astros is still playing in the Mexican League, only for a different team.

Matijevic, a power-hitting first baseman, outfielder and DH, started the season with Dorados de Chihuahua but was released on June 11.

He is now starting for Caliente de Durango, where he is hitting .313 with six doubles and a triple in 17 games.

Patrick Monteverde

A Fox Chapel grad, he starred at Seton Hill and Texas Tech before he was selected in the eighth round of the MLB Draft in 2021 by the Miami Marlins.

Monteverde, a crafty left-hander, is 3-3 this season with a 5.80 ERA in Triple-A with the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and is rated by MLB.com as the No. 22 prospect in the Marlins’ system.

He began 2023 in Class A.

Max McDowell

McDowell, a Norwin alum, is playing for the Buffalo Bisons (Toronto Blue Jays) in Triple-A. The catcher was batting .192 through 32 games with three homers and eight RBIs.

McDowell spent some time in the injured list in late May.