Bucs’ Boscan still seeking first MLB action
BRADENTON, Fla. — Wilfredo Boscan is confident he will not eventually be the answer to this trivia question: What player was called up to the major leagues three times in his career but never appeared into a game?
That is what happened to the right-handed pitcher last season. He spent three separate one-day stints with the Pirates when they needed to add a fresh arm to the bullpen following extra-inning games.
Yet the 26-year-old is still looking to make his major league debut.
“Of course, it would have been great to get to pitch but I wasn’t upset about it,” Boscan said recently at the Pirates’ spring training camp. “I was just excited to be the in the major leagues. It was a thrill just to get be there, even if it wasn’t for very long. It was a thrill.”
Boscan was also dropped off the 40-man roster in August because of a technicality. The Pirates needed to clear a roster spot after the Cleveland Indians’ waiver claim on relief pitcher Deolis Guerra was voided by Major League Baseball because of a knee injury.
It would be enough to anger anyone, even the easygoing Boscan. However, he wasn’t bothered.
“I’ve been playing baseball a long time now,” he said. “I know how things work. Sometimes it’s not fair but what can you do?”
What Boscan could have done in the offseason was sign with another organization as he became a free agent. He would have been attractive to a number of teams while coming off a season in which he was 10-3 with a 3.07 ERA in 25 games, including 23 starts, for Indianapolis.
However, Boscan re-signed with the Pirates. He will likely to be back at Indianapolis to begin the season in a rotation that could potentially include such prospects as Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams and Chad Kuhl.
The Pirates are Boscan’s fourth organization since being signed as an amateur free agent from the Dominican Republic by the Texas Rangers in 2007. He has also had stints with the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox.
“I like it here,” Boscan said. “They have treated me well here. They brought me to the big leagues and that has been my dream since I was a little boy. My dream came true.”
Now Boscan’s new dream is to actually to pitch in the major leagues.
“It’s going to happen,” Boscan said. “When they called me up last year, that made me more confident than ever. It made me know I can pitch in the big leagues and I know I will get that chance.”