KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The big-league dreams finally came true for a former Monarch on Wednesday afternoon.
RHP Akeem Bostick, who had his contract transferred to the New York Mets on May 19th, was called up and joined the National League East front-runners yesterday afternoon.
Bostick made his Major League debut earlier today for the New York Mets at Citi Field in New York. The Florence, South Carolina native worked a scoreless ninth inning of relief for the Mets in a 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
"Bostick made it to the ultimate level. He was in our clubhouse just two months; now he's in a big league clubhouse facing big league hitters — it's awesome. It's wonderful for him and his family, for our program, and for our organization. It's really great," said Monarchs Manager Joe Calfapietra.
Bostick began the season on the Monarchs spring roster and was slated to be a part of the Kansas City rotation as the opening day starter. He would have his contract transferred before he made his first start, but he did pitch three scoreless innings in spring training for KC.
After leaving the Monarchs this season, Bostick joined Triple-A Syracuse. In 37 ⅔ innings, he posted a 6.21 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 23 walks. He was scheduled to start last night for Syracuse, but those plans were changed earlier in the day; he instead headed to New York and into the Mets bullpen for last night’s game.
Bostick, 26, pitched 17 ⅓ innings for the T-Bones in 2019 and logged a 3.12 ERA with 17 strikeouts. He made an immediate impact when he joined the T-Bones on August 16th of the 2019 season. In his 2019 American Association debut, the right-hander tossed five scoreless innings, helping the T-Bones secure a key late season sweep of a series-opening double header in game one at Texas. Bostick went on to appear in four regular season games for Kansas City. In the post-season, Bostick added another three innings of relief with one strike out and one earned run. In both the regular and post-season, he surrendered seven earned runs in 20.1 innings.
Bostick is the first Monarch on this year’s roster to reach the Major Leagues. So far in 2021, 21 players have been transferred off the roster, including 10 since opening day and four members of the starting rotation from June 5-17.