By PAUL GOTHAM
Aquinas Li’l Irish alum Chris Bostick will be in the lineup when the Pittsburgh Pirates take the field Monday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
As reported earlier in the day by the Democrat and Chronicle, Bostick will make his first appearance in Major League Baseball. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette first reported Bostick’s promotion here.
A 2011 MLB draft pick of the Oakland Athletics, Bostick was most recently playing with the Indianapolis Indians of the International League.
Pittsburgh acquired Bostick in a trade with the Washington Nationals last September. The Pirates are Bostick’s fourth professional organization. After playing three seasons in the A’s organization, the Texas Rangers traded for Bostick in December of 2013. The Rangers sent Bostick to the Washington Nationals in December of 2014.
Bostick played 64 games in 2016 with the Syracuse Chiefs – Washington’s Triple-A affiliate in the International League. The middle infielder was hitting .320 with an OPS of .841 in 24 games with Indianapolis in 2017.
At Aquinas, Bostick played on Mark Magliocco‘s 2009 state championship team. He also teamed with Jarron Jones, who will be playing in the NFL after recently signing a free agent deal with the New York Giants, on Chris Battaglia’s 2010 Li’l Irish squad which claimed the NYS Class A football title.
Bostick is the first Aquinas alum to suit up in Major League Baseball.
He is also the first Section Five player to reach the bigs since Andy Parrino (Brockport) played 17 games with Oakland in 2015. Parrino played 131 MLB contests over five seasons starting in 2011.
After being taken in the 2011 draft, Bostick played the months of June and July with the Webster Yankees of the New York Collegiate Baseball League before signing with Oakland in late July. Bostick earned NYCBL Player of the Year honors and led Dave Brust‘s squad to a division championship and appearance in the league finals.
Eight other Section Five alums currently play in minor league baseball: Cito Culver (Irondequoit/New York Yankees), Grant Heyman (Pittsford-Sutherland/Arizona Diamondbacks), Steven Klimek (Greece Arcadia/Baltimore Orioles), Matt Portland (Victor), Jordan Schwartz (Hornell/Oakland A’s), Jon Schwind (Hilton/Pittsburgh Pirates) and Conner Simonetti (Fairport/Washington Nationals).
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