Kenny Koplove

Kenneth Scott Koplove (born August 2, 1993) is an American right-handed former professional baseball pitcher. He played internationally with the Israel national baseball team.

In high school, as a senior Koplove was named the 2012 Gatorade Pennsylvania Player of the Year. As a junior at Duke University in 2015, he struck out 37 batters in 25.1 innings, while setting the school's single-season record with 11 saves. He was selected in the 17th round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Koplove was on the roster of Team Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

Early life Koplove was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in South Philadelphia. He is the son of Steve (an attorney) and Joni Koplove, and is Jewish. He is the younger brother of former major league pitcher Mike Koplove, who is 17 years older. He also has two older sisters; named Andrea and Erica.

College Koplove played shortstop and pitched in college for Duke University for the Blue Devils.

Professional career Philadelphia Phillies Koplove was selected in the 17th round (504th overall) of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, and signed for a $75,000 signing bonus.

In 2015, Koplove pitched for the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Low-A New York-Penn League, and logged a 2–3 record with a 4.50 ERA and 27 strikeouts across 23 relief appearances. In 2016, Koplove split the season between the Crosscutters and the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Single-A South Atlantic League, for whom he posted a cumulative 0-2 record and 7.34 ERA with 33 strikeouts over 38 innings pitched. For the season, he played for the Lakewood BlueClaws and the Batavia Muckdogs of the Low-A New York-Penn League, and pitched to a combined 3–2 record with one save and a 7.84 ERA in innings, in which he struck out 26 batters. Koplove underwent elbow surgery in November of the same year, and was released by the Marlins organization on March 31, 2018.

Sussex County Miners On April 11, 2018, Koplove signed with the Sussex County Miners of the independent Can-Am League. In 31 appearances (nine starts) for Sussex County, he compiled a 7–4 record with 78 strikeouts, two saves, and a 2.61 ERA (3rd in the league), limiting opposing batters to a .201 batting average. In the playoffs in 2018, Koplove was 2–0 with one save and a 1.68 ERA over three appearances.

Colorado Rockies On November 26, 2018, the Miners sold Koplove's contract to the Colorado Rockies. He spent the majority of the 2019 season with the High-A Lancaster JetHawks, pitching to a 2–1 record with a 3.60 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 15 innings of work; he also made one scoreless three-inning appearance (in which he struck out five batters) with the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League. Koplove was released by the Rockies organization on June 7, 2019.

Kansas City T-Bones On June 19, 2019, Koplove signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. In six starts for the T-Bones, he registered a 2–3 record and 6.37 ERA with 28 strikeouts across innings pitched.