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.
Koplove was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and grew up in South Philadelphia.[1] He is the son of Steve (an attorney) and Joni Koplove, and is Jewish.[2][3][4][5][6] He is the younger brother of former major league pitcher Mike Koplove, who is 17 years older.[7][8] He also has two older sisters; named Andrea and Erica.[2]
High school
Koplove played high school baseball for William Penn Charter School.[2] He was named 2009 Southeastern Pennsylvania Rookie of the Year by the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Inter-Academic League (Inter-Ac High School League) Most Valuable Player.[2] He was then named the 2011 Southeastern Pennsylvania Top Junior Pitcher by the Pennsylvania Inquirer.[2]
As a senior in 2012, Koplove was 9–1 with a 2.06 ERA, and 80 strikeouts in 48.0 innings, and batted .347, and was named the 2012 Gatorade/ESPN Pennsylvania Player of the Year, as well as 2012 Rawlings Baseball First Team All-Atlantic Region.[9][2] He was three-time First-Team All-State and First-Team All Inter-Ac League.[2] His fastball reached 94 miles per hour.[10]
College
Koplove played shortstop and pitched in college for Duke University for the Blue Devils.[2] As a freshman in 2013, he started 45 games at shortstop, and pitched in three games.[2] He played for the Chatham Anglers of the Cape Cod League over the summer, batting .296 and making one relief appearance.[11][2] As a sophomore in 2014 he started 55 games at shortstop.[2] As a junior in 2015 he was the team's starting shortstop, starting 43 games, and primary closer, pitching 21 times in relief with a 2.13 ERA while striking out 37 batters in 25.1 innings, and setting the school's single-season record with 11 saves.[2][12]
In 2015, he pitched for the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Class A (short-season) New York-Penn League, and in 23 games in relief went 2–3 with a 4.50 ERA.[15] In 2016 Koplove split the season between the Crosscutters, for whom in 16 games in relief he had a 3.76 ERA, and the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Class A South Atlantic League, for whom in 11.2 innings he had a 15.43 ERA.[7]
Miami Marlins
In May 2017, Koplove was released by the Phillies, and the following month he was signed by the Miami Marlins organization.[16] For the season, he played for the Lakewood BlueClaws and the Batavia Muckdogs of the Class A- New York-Penn League, and pitched a combined 3–2 with one save and a 7.84 ERA in 20.2 innings, in which he struck out 26 batters.[17] Koplove had elbow surgery in November 2017, and was released by the Marlins organization on March 31, 2018.[18]
Sussex County Miners
On April 11, 2018, Koplove signed with the Sussex County Miners of the independent Can-Am League. Pitching for them in 2018 he was 7–4 with 2 saves and a 2.61 ERA (3rd in the league) over 31 games, 9 of which were starts, limiting opposing batters to a .201 batting average.[19][20][21] In the playoffs in 2018, he was 2–0 with a save and a 1.68 ERA over 3 games.[22]
Colorado Rockies
In November 2018, the Miners sold Koplove's contract to the Colorado Rockies.[23] He spent the majority of the 2019 season with the Class-A AdvancedLancaster JetHawks, pitching to a 2–1 record with a 3.60 ERA, with 16 strikeouts in 15 innings, as well as one scoreless three-inning appearance in which he struck out five batters with the Class AAA Albuquerque Isotopes of the Pacific Coast League, before he was released on June 7, 2019.[24]
Kansas City T-Bones
On June 19, 2019, Koplove signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the independent American Association, with whom he was 2–3 with a 6.37 ERA in 29.2 innings over six starts.[24] He was released by the club on December 19, 2019.
