​Right-hander Alex Petrovic grew up in Cypress, Texas, a Houston suburb, the son of parents who played basketball at Oberlin College. His athletic gifts manifested on the baseball diamond rather than the court, and he quickly began drawing attention on the sandlots around Texas. Petrovic attended Concordia Lutheran High School in Tomball, Texas, where he excelled as both a hitter and a pitcher, earning TAPPS First Team All-State honors in 2022 and 2023. An inflammation in his right arm kept him off the mound for most of his senior year and may have cost him a spot in the 2023 MLB Draft. Despite solid results, he was not viewed as an elite prospect and went undrafted, prompting him to honor his commitment to Auburn University.
Petrovic’s college career with the Tigers began reluctantly, as the arm inflammation resurfaced that fall. It settled enough for him to take the mound when the season started, after missing the first three weeks. In seven appearances for Auburn, he posted a 5.73 ERA, allowing 7 earned runs in 11.0 innings, with 15 hits, 3 walks, and 17 strikeouts. There was a possibility he might have continued to improve as the weather warmed, but in early April he sustained a stress fracture in his right elbow, ending his season prematurely.
He underwent elbow surgery, with screws inserted, and returned to the mound at Plainsman Park for the 2025 season. In a near-miraculous development, the same kind of issue nearly recurred the following year. Petrovic appeared in seven games, starting five, and posted a 4.34 ERA over 18.2 innings, allowing 13 hits, walking 4, and striking out 25. Yet once again, an injury on a different part of his arm, sustained in early April, cut his season short. His velocity had dipped from the low 90s to the high 80s, and his breaking balls lacked their previous sharpness, hinting that another arm complication might be looming. As a draft-eligible sophomore by age, Petrovic did not hear his name called in the 2025 MLB Draft.
When his arm recovered later that summer, he traveled to a baseball training facility in Lakeland, Florida—the Florida Base ARMory—and worked on subtle changes to his mechanics to reduce stress on his arm and elbow, aiming to prevent a third consecutive season-ending injury in 2026. The 22-year-old returned to Auburn for his redshirt sophomore season with a fresh approach, and he not only avoided injury but delivered a standout year. His fastball picked up a few miles per hour thanks to the mechanical adjustments, and his secondary offerings sharpened. He appeared in 17 games, all in a starting role, and posted a 3.21 ERA over 92.2 innings, allowing 70 hits, walking 24, and striking out 92.
Standing 6’5”, Petrovic carries an imposing on-field presence, and his renewed durability paired with more effective velocity and refined secondary stuff positions him as a compelling pitching prospect to watch.