Stephen Kolek, a right-hander with a five-pitch mix, is making the transition from the bullpen to the rotation this spring. Sure helps that there’s another righty -- with precisely the same five-pitch mix -- who made precisely the same transition last spring.

Catcher, left field, and the starting rotation were three areas general manager A.J. Preller said the San Diego Padres needed to address in the offseason.  The

Stephen Kolek already had been plucked out of the Mariners system in the Rule 5 draft when he got married last January. The Padres’ trip to South Korea for the Seoul Series for his MLB debut served as a pseudo-honeymoon until this offseason,