Jacob Bosiokovic, Putting Up Ridiculous Numbers at Single-A Boise

Boise Hawks first baseman Jacob Bosiokovic numbers aren’t fair right now.

And if he were playing at Coors field, they would be astronomical.

The 6-foot-5, 240-pound 19th-round pick out of Ohio State leads the Northwest League in batting average (.360), slugging (.581), On-Base Percentage (.461) and home runs (4).

He also leads the team in games played (23 of 27), RBI’s (16), Hits (31), OPS (1.042) and walks (14) while second on the team in steals (7).

“I feel like the key, something that, during my school season, I had trouble accepting the failure,” Bosiokovic said. “Especially now, at this level, you’re going to fail more times. Just learning that it’s about how my at bats play out over time as opposed to that result at that moment.”

The Ohio native grew up cheering for the Buckeyes and in his freshman season put up solid numbers which included a .273 batting average and starting in 55 games, but his sophomore campaign was marred by inconsistency.

Add insult to injury he would be sidelined for his entire junior season with Tommy John surgery.

After reinventing himself, and his swing, he came back with a strong RS junior season where he tied for the fourth most home runs in the Big Ten (11) and led Ohio State to a Big Ten tournament championship.

With one year of eligibility left at Ohio State, he decided to forgo his final season and begin his professional career.

A few weeks later the Rockies drafted him for good reason. His size and athleticism could be something that fits well at Coors Field.

In batting practice on Thursday, before the Hawks 7-1 win over Vancouver where he went 1-for-3 with a walk, Bosiokovic struck baseball after baseball either over the right field fence or into it.

Comparisons can be made to Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson, somebody Bosiokovic modeled when returning from his injury in college.

Donaldson was also a Boise Hawk back in 2007 when the team was a Chicago Cubs affiliate.

But another, more ideal comparison, could be Evan Gattis of the Houston Astros. Gattis is nearly the same size as Bosiokovic at 6-foot-4, 230 pounds but the two also have a very similar swing pattern.

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Not to mention Gattis was a late draft pick as well, where he was taken in the 23rd-round in 2010.

Although Bosiokovic has been exceeding what his 19th-round selection may suggest,  he knows he can’t get ahead of himself if he wants to make it to Denver one day.

Next: Colorado Rockies: 4 Things We're Watching on Friday

“The best way to do your best is to take care of what you can at that moment. What’s going to happen is gonna happen no matter what if your taking care of your business. That’s kind of how I approach it.”