Bostick's wild ride to making Marlins debut

August 14th, 2018

ATLANTA -- Newly acquired utility player Christopher Bostick has a new appreciation for the expression "timing is everything."
The way Bostick arrived with the Marlins on Monday was purely a matter of chance and circumstance. The 25-year-old happened to have a connecting flight in Atlanta at the time strained his left quad in Game 1 of a day-night doubleheader at SunTrust Park.
In need of another player, Bostick became the logical candidate because he had been acquired the day before from the Pirates for cash considerations and Miami had already placed him on its 40-man roster.
"Being in the right airport in the right city at the right time," Bostick said on Tuesday afternoon.
Monday turned into an improbable scramble for Bostick, who took a flight out of Washington, D.C., and was scheduled to arrive in Memphis to join Triple-A New Orleans. Those plans changed due to Prado being placed on the 10-day disabled list.
"We made the trade for Chris Bostick for depth," Marlins president of baseball operations Michael Hill said.
As soon as Prado came out of the game, Hill contacted traveling secretary Manny Colon to get in touch with Bostick. Hill also was getting injury updates on Prado from team head athletic trainer Dustin Luepker.
"While I was talking with Dustin, trying to figure out the severity, we were making sure that [Bostick] didn't get on that flight," Hill said.

Bostick was at the gate for his connecting flight with three travel bags already on the plane when he was told to join the team for Game 2 of Monday's twin bill.
"Two bags went to Memphis, one bag ended up getting taken off the plane," Bostick said.
Bostick actually left the airport without any of his three pieces of luggage, and he took an Uber to SunTrust Park.
"I had nothing with me, my backpack when I got here," Bostick said. "I was thinking about it during the game. I'm like, 'Man, I don't know where my bags are.' I was wondering if they knew where the one was. At the end of the day, baseball is baseball."
Bostick ended up borrowing a pair of cleats from Dan Straily, whom he knew in 2011 when both were in the A's system. Bostick would walk as a pinch-hitter during the eighth inning of Game 2.
"Luckily he had my shoe size, 11 1/2 size," Bostick said. "First time I wore cleats with a pitcher's toe on them. They gave me an outfield glove, and [I] borrowed an infield glove. I grabbed some extra bats out of the bag and was on my way."
Bostick may get opportunities at third base, second and center field.
Worth noting
• Infielder , who bruised his left ankle in Game 2 on Monday night, is feeling a little better. But if he isn't better by Friday, when the team begins a three-game series against the Nationals in Washington, Miami may place him on the DL.
Rojas accepted blame for the injury, saying he tried to advance from first to third on 's single because left fielder didn't charge the ball and was flat-footed.
"At the end of the day on that play, there was not a lot of upside to that play, and for a number of reasons," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "He probably has the shortest throw out there. He did catch him flat-footed, I will say that. But we know who is up next: the pitcher. The chances of getting a hit aren't really that great, and he still can score from second base on a hit. So him getting to third is not really an advantage in any way."

(lower back stiffness) is expected to throw a sim game on Wednesday.