Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects 2023 Recap: Julian Bosnic Struggles in First Professional Action

After missing 2022 due to an elbow issue, left-handed pitcher Julian Bosnic struggled mightily in his first taste of professional action with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2023

In the 14th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected left-handed pitcher Julian Bosnic out of the University of South Carolina. Bosnic was selected after missing the entire 2022 season due to an elbow strain.

Prior to suffering his elbow injury, Bosnic was expected to be one of South Carolina's top two weekend starters in 2022. This injury also prevented him from making his professional debut in 2022. He finished his collegiate career with a 2.52 ERA, 33 walks, and 85 strikeouts in 57.1 innings pitched.

In 2023, Bosnic returned from injury and pitched for both the Low-A Bradenton Marauders and the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers. Between the two levels, Bosnic made 36 relief appearances logging 57 innings. In his 57 innings of work Bosnic posted a 4.74 ERA, 5.05 FIP, 18.8% walk rate, 31.0% strikeout rate, and allowed home runs at a 0.79 HR/9 rate.

It's obvious to see that the big issue for Bosnic in 2023 was his control. In addition to his very poor 18.8% walk rate, he also threw 13 wild pitches and hit 7 batters. Despite his strong strikeout numbers and ability to limit home runs, this poor control led to a poor overall first professional season for Bosnic.

That said, it was just his first professional season. He was also coming off of not pitching in game action in 2022 due to his elbow issue. Due to these factors, there is plenty of reason to believe that Bosnic can improve in 2024 as he continues to get healthy and adjust to the professional game.

2024 will be a big season for Bosnic. Due in part to being a college draft pick, it will already be his age-24 season. If he once again struggles with his command or overall results at the High-A level, he could very quickly find himself as nothing more than a non-prospect, organizaitonal filler type of player. Not that dissimilar from the likes of Osvaldo Bido or Cam Alldred.