One of the top prospects of professional baseball to come out of NYC in the past decade is none other than Pittsburgh’s Joshua Palacios, the right-handed outfielder and left handed batter from Brooklyn. Before Palacios was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the fourth round of the 2016 MLB Draft, Palacios was NYC’s 2013 High School Player of the Year straight out of the High School For Telecommunications Art And Technology in Bay Ridge, resulting in him originally being drafted into the MLB by the Cincinnati Reds in the 21st round in 2014, but turned down the offer to attend San Jacinto Junior College in Houston. As a sophomore, Palacios was named the 37th best Junior College Player of the Year .
Two years later, Palacios was drafted by the Blue Jays, beginning his career with the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays and before the end of that season, he went to the Short Season-A Vancouver Canadians. In the midst of the pandemic, the Blue Jays added him to their 40-man team and made his MLB debut on April 9, 2021 against the L.A. Angels. Soon after, the Washington Nationals claimed Palacios off the Blue Jays’ roster, but a year later, the Pirates selected the 25-year-old from the Nationals in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft.
A little more than a year ago, Palacios hit his first MLB home run against the St. Lois Cardinals and became the first Pirate to hit a walk-off two-run HR on his birthday(July 30) off of Phillies’ Andrew Vasquez. I
In 91 games in his first season with the Pirates, the now 28-year-old batted .239/.279/.413 with 10 homers and 40 RBIs. This still didn’t stop Pittsburgh from optioning the outfielder to Triple–A Indianapolis to begin the 2024 season.
Being a born Brooklynite, Palacios has always had a thing for Hip Hop, as noted in his playlist courtesy of Black Baseball Mixtape. The playlist id BK heavy, with Fivio Foreign, Sleepy Hallow, the Notorious B.I.G. and Hov making the cut on Palacios hard hitting track selection. Check it out below!
