Akeem Maurice Bostick (born May 4, 1995) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the

Wild Health Genomes The Wild Health Genomes were an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 2022, they are a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an MLB Partner League. The Genomes are owned by the same grou ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

. He was chosen by the Texas Rangers in the second round of the

2013 MLB draft The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in ...

, and made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut with the New York Mets in 2021.

Career

Amateur career

Bostick attended West Florence High School in

Florence, South Carolina Florence is a city in and the county seat of Florence County, South Carolina, United States. It lies at the intersection of Interstates 20 and 95 and is the eastern terminus of the former. It is the primary city within the Florence metropolit ...

. Bostick played for the school's baseball team, and was their ace

. In his senior year, Bostick had a 9–0 win–loss record and a 0.68 earned run average (ERA) with 84

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 51

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one innin ...

. Bostick pitched for Florence Post 1 in American Legion Baseball, helping them to win the state championship in 2012.

Texas Rangers

Bostick committed to attend Georgia Southern University, where he would play baseball and American football. The Texas Rangers selected Bostick in the second round, 62nd overall, of the

. He signed with the Rangers rather than attend college, reportedly receiving a $520,620

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. The Rangers assigned him to the Arizona Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League and he spent the whole season there, posting a 4–1 record and 2.83 ERA in 14 games. In 2014, Bostick pitched for the Hickory Crawdads of the Single-AA South Atlantic League where he posted a 5–6 record and 5.17 ERA in 21 games (twenty games started).

Houston Astros

On January 21, 2015, the Rangers traded Bostick to the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

for

Carlos Corporán Carlos Fernando Corporán (born January 7, 1984) is a Puerto Rican former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. Early life Corporán was born in Hato ...

. He spent the 2015 season with both the Single-A Quad Cities River Bandits and the High-A Lancaster JetHawks, posting a combined 9–5 record and 4.15 ERA in 21 total games between the two teams. The following year, Bostick played with the Low-A Tri-City ValleyCats and Lancaster, where he went 6–4 with a 4.74 ERA in 16 total games. In 2017, he pitched for the High-A Buies Creek Astros and the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, pitching to a combined 8–7 record and 4.06 ERA in 22 games (16 starts) between both teams. In 2018, he played for Corpus Christi and the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies, going 2–5 with a 3.67 ERA in 22 games (16 starts). In 2019, Bostick pitched for the Triple-A Round Rock Express, recording a 4–5 record and 7.28 ERA in 21 games before he was released on August 9, 2019.

Kansas City T-Bones

On August 16, 2019, Bostick signed with the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. In 4 games for Kansas City, Bostick posted a 2–1 record and 3.12 ERA with 17 strikeouts in 17.1 innings of work. On June 16, 2020, Bostick became a free agent after the T-Bones decided not to participate in the 2020 season.

Sugar Land Skeeters

In July 2020, Bostick signed on to play for the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Constellation Energy League (a makeshift four-team independent league created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic) for the 2020 season. In 8 games with the Skeeters, Bostick registered an 0.90 ERA with 11 strikeouts in 10.0 innings pitched.

St. Louis Cardinals

On September 1, 2020, Bostick signed a minor league contract with the St. Louis Cardinals organization. Bostick did not play in a game for the organization in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 30, 2021, Bostick was released by St. Louis.

New York Mets

On May 18, 2021, Bostick signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets organization. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which open ...

and pitched to an 0–4 record and 6.21 ERA in 10 games with the team. On July 28, the Mets selected Bostick's contract to the 40-man roster and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut on July 29, 2021, pitching a scoreless ninth inning against the Atlanta Braves, retiring three of the batters he faced, walking one. On July 30, Bostick was designated for assignment by the Mets. The next day, he was outrighted back to Triple-A Syracuse.

Kansas City Monarchs

On January 24, 2022, Bostick signed with the Kansas City Monarchs of the American Association.

Wild Health Genomes

On June 17, 2022, Bostick signed with the

of the

Personal life

His cousin,

Brandon Bostick Brandon Jamal Bostick (born May 3, 1989) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Newberry. Bostick was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He was also member of the Minnesota Vikings ...

, played in the National Football League.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bostick, Akeem 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Florence, South Carolina Baseball players from South Carolina African-American baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players Arizona League Rangers players Hickory Crawdads players Tri-City ValleyCats players Quad Cities River Bandits players Lancaster JetHawks players Buies Creek Astros players Corpus Christi Hooks players Cañeros de Los Mochis players Fresno Grizzlies players Caribes de Anzoátegui players Round Rock Express players Kansas City T-Bones players Sugar Land Skeeters players Syracuse Mets players 21st-century African-American sportspeople American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela