Joshua John Palacios (born July 30, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the Pittsburgh Pirates of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

and

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

Amateur career

Palacios attended the

High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology is a public high school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.It was established in the 1980s with a focus on preparing students for careers working with computers, including by teaching about word processing ...

in his hometown of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, and was selected as the 2013 New York City High School Player of the Year. He was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 31st round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

, but did not sign and instead attended

San Jacinto Junior College San Jacinto College is a public community college in the Greater Houston with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Channelview, ...

. In his first season of college baseball, Palacios batted .376 with six doubles and 26

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs). In the offseason, Palacios signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a heads of agreement, term sh ...

to transfer to

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

for the 2016 season. As a sophomore with San Jacinto, he hit .364 with 12 doubles, nine triples, 36 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases. At the end of the season, Palacios was named the 37th best junior college prospect in the country. In his lone season with Auburn, Palacios batted .385 with five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 23 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

The

selected Palacios in the fourth round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, and he signed for a $438,100 signing bonus. He was assigned to the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays i ...

and appeared in 13 games before being promoted to the Short Season-A

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadiu ...

. After 28 games in Vancouver, Palacios was promoted to the Class-A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field. The Midwest League came to Lans ...

, where he finished his 2016 campaign. In 50 total games across three levels, Palacios batted .330 with 18 RBIs. He was assigned to Lansing for the entire 2017 season, and hit .280 with two home runs, 39 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases in 91 games. On November 20, 2020, the Blue Jays added Palacios to their 40-man roster. On April 9, 2021, Palacios was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that night as the starting right fielder against the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

. Palacios was assigned to Triple-A Buffalo on May 3, 2021. He was designated for assignment on April 11, 2022.

Washington Nationals

On April 15, 2022, the

claimed Palacios from the Blue Jays off of waivers. On December 1, 2022, Palacios was sent outright off of the 40-man roster.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 7, 2022,

Winter Meetings Representatives of all 30 Major League Baseball teams and their 120 Minor League Baseball affiliates convene for four days each December in the Winter Meetings to discuss league business and conduct off-season trades and transactions. Attendees in ...

, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected Palacios from the Nationals in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. He began the 2023 season with the Double-A

Altoona Curve The Altoona Curve are a Minor League Baseball team based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, named after nearby Horseshoe Curve (but also alluding to the curveball, a type of pitch). The team plays in the Eastern League and is the Double-A affiliate of th ...

, but was quickly promoted to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which open ...

. In 21 combined games, he hit .368/.433/.598 with 4 home runs, 22 RBI, and 4 stolen bases. On May 9, 2023, the Pirates selected Palacios' contract. On June 2, 2023 Palacios hit his first Major League home run at PNC Park against the St. Louis Cardinals.

International career

Palacios represented the

Netherlands national baseball team The Netherlands national baseball team is the national baseball team of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, representing the country in international men's baseball. They are currently ranked as the best team in the WBSC Europe, and the team is also ...

at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Personal life

His brother,

Richie Richie or Richy is a masculine given name or short form (hypocorism) of Richard. It is also a surname. First name *Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), American Major League Baseball player, member of the Hall of Fame *Richie Benaud (1930–2015), Austr ...

, was drafted by the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in the third round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. His uncle, Rey, played in

for the Kansas City Royals from 1988 to 1990. Palacios' father is Puerto Rican, and mother is from Curaçao, and thus he was eligible to play for the

and was selected to play for them in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palacios, Josh 1995 births Living people Baseball players from Brooklyn Baseball players from New York (state) American people of Curaçao descent American sportspeople of Puerto Rican descent Dutch people of Curaçao descent Dutch people of Puerto Rican descent Major League Baseball outfielders Toronto Blue Jays players Washington Nationals players Pittsburgh Pirates players San Jacinto Central Ravens baseball players Auburn Tigers baseball players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players Lansing Lugnuts players Dunedin Blue Jays players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Florida Complex League Blue Jays players Rochester Red Wings players 2023 World Baseball Classic players Altoona Curve players Indianapolis Indians players