From the DC Grays to the Washington Nationals--A Long and Winding Road

The Washington Nationals just signed a DC Grays veteran. Adam Bogosian, a right-handed pitcher from Lafayette College, climbed the ladder to Single A baseball with the Fredericksburg Nationals. 

It all started in Brooklyn, New York. The young Yankees fan knew he made it big when he stepped between the lines at Yankee stadium for his high school city championship. Bogosian threw several innings in the 12-inning game. 

He had gotten many looks by college coaches as a high school sophomore, in part because he had already touched 88 mph on his fastball. His junior year his velocity seemingly plateaued, so the conversations stopped with many college recruiters. This didn't slow him down. He was determined to play at the college level. 

He opted to play at Lafayette College, where he grew into top form across his four years of eligibility. The summer after his Sophomore year, in 2022, he pitched for the DC Grays. 

"I really attribute that summer with the Grays as one of the first big turning points in becoming a successful, high-level pitcher," Bogosian remarked. "For me, it was a fundamental part of my college career."

He stayed with his grandfather, Richard Bogosian, who has lived in Montgomery Village, Maryland for over 50 years. It was about an hour's drive away from their home field at the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy. Bogosian drove his grandfather's 2001 Honda Civic to all the games. 

"I'd come back and watch some old timer detective TV show with my grandpa and have a late dinner," Bogosian reminisced. He loved that this was a time where he could hone his craft as a pitcher while also being with his grandfather. "We spent a lot of quality time together."

Bogosian emphasized the gravity of that summer with the Grays. It propelled him forward in many ways. "I came back to my Junior season with a really dependable slider," he said. He spent the next summer in the Coastal Plain League with the Martinsville Mustangs. "The DC Grays summer was a big learning summer but the next summer I felt really confident."

In his Senior season at Lafayette, he led the team in innings pitched as a reliever. When he graduated in 2024 with a degree in Psychology, he did not know what to do next. He felt like he could not stop playing this game that had been his sole focus for nearly two decades.

Bogosian recounted his thought process following his walk across the graduation stage. "I've loved baseball so much forever and I don't want to have all these skills that I've worked so hard to develop go to waste." He was sure that he'd find a way to continue his baseball odyssey. It was that same determination that took him that far in the first place. 

"I need to keep going because it wouldn't be fair to myself to work so hard and then boom–one day you walk across the stage for graduation and you never again touch plyo balls or do J bands," he explained. 

The month after he graduated, he went on a baseball stadium road trip as a spectator throughout the midwest. He saw 14 games in 14 days. Baseball was far from being out of Bogosian's life. 

"When I got back, a real stroke of luck went my way," he recounted. He had gotten into the MLB Draft League and played for the Trenton Thunder in the summer of 2024. It was part of his introduction into independent baseball, also known as Indy Ball.

By 2025, Bogosian had started to play for the Oakland Ballers. This ended up being a huge deal because in the previous five years, three professional sports teams had left Oakland–the Raiders, the Warriors, and the Athletics–understadably upsetting the Oakland fans. 

This meant that the city began to rally behind the Ballers. Thousands of fans would be attending their games. 

"You can get cut at any moment. It is a revolving door," he noted. It was a totally different environment than he was used to. Bogosian had barely made the cut for the team. He then rose to the top, becoming the winning pitcher in game 5 of the championship series. 

That year they had a record of 73-23, 50 games over .500. One of the best records in minor league baseball history. 

Bogosian was on that team with an old DC Grays teammate, Cam Buford. Bogosian chuckled as he said that Buford used the same walk up song that season that he had for the Grays, three years prior. Buford finished the 2025 season with the highest batting average on the Ballers. 

By the end of the Ballers season, Bogosian's fastball sat in the mid 90s. He signed with an Atlantic League team, the Lexington Legends. Soon after he was traded to the Chicago Dogs. "I put all my stuff in my car and waited until the next thing," he sighed. He had been bouncing from place to place, but maintained his drive for a larger future in baseball. That thought process that kept him from abandoning the game after graduating college is what pushed him through the minor leagues. 

Bogosian ended up pitching on opening day for the Chicago Dogs. After his outing he got a call from his college coach who asked him if he had heard anything from the Washington Nationals. 

Two days later, he was on a bus ride with the Dogs. Five hours into the 7 hour bus ride from Chicago to Kansas City, his agent called and told him that he had to turn around and report to West Palm Beach in two days. He had been signed by the Washington Nationals. 

"It was an unforgettable bus ride," Bogosian said. 

Bogosian spent the next six weeks in the Florida Complex League. Two weeks ago, he was promoted to Low Single A with the Fredericksburg Nationals. 

Baseball is a grind that requires perseverance and sustained dedication. Bogosian didn't want to give up. He kept finding a way to play the game that had been shaping him since his early childhood. The truth is that you just never know when the next opportunity will arise.  

"It's kind of full circle because I have family from DC, I played for the DC Grays at the Nationals Youth Academy, and for all the teams to get signed by, it's the Washington Nationals," Bogosian concluded. You have no idea where perseverance in your craft can take you.