Joshua Palacios

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Joshua John Palacios

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Biographical Information[edit]

Outfielder Joshua Palacios is the nephew of major leaguer Rey Palacios and the brother of Richie Palacios. From Brooklyn, NY, he went to Houston, TX to play for San Jacinto College and was drafted in the 31st round of the 2014 amateur draft by the Cincinnati Reds. However, he declined their offer and continued his career with Auburn University, from where he was drafted again, by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 4th round of the 2016 amateur draft.

After three seasons in the Jays' system, he spent 2020 at the team's alternate training site but did not get a chance to play anywhere. He later said that this was not entirely a bad thing, as he got to spend a lot of time working on his approach at the plate and practicing stealing bases, without the constant pressure of having to put up statistics. He was expecting to spend all or most of 2021 in the minor leagues, what with Toronto having signed top free agent George Springer in the off-season, to add to an already strong group of outfielders including Teoscar Hernandez, Randal Grichuk, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and a very good spare outfielder in Jonathan Davis. However, Springer started the year on the injured list and unexpectedly, on April 9th, Hernandez was forced to go into isolation after having a contact with a person infected with COVID-19. Josh was summoned to the team's offices, and not knowing what was going on, thought he had somehow gotten himself in trouble. He was instead told to rush over to TD Ballpark, the Jays' temporary home in Dunedin, FL, as he was going to be in the starting line-up for that evening's game against the Los Angeles Angels. He had a rough welcome as he was facing a left-hander, Andrew Heaney, who was on a very good night, and he went 0 for 3 with a pair of strikeouts and a hit-by-pitch. The next day was a different story as he had a four-hit game in a 15-1 romp over the Angels, his first hit coming on a perfect bunt down the third base line against Jose Quintana and later came in to score in a seven-run 2nd inning, one of four runs he would score that evening.

His mother is from Curaçao, making him and his brother eligible to play for the Netherlands national team at the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Further Reading[edit]

  • Michael Clair: "When not laughing at each other, the Palacios bros rely on one another", mlb.com, November 21, 2023. [1]
  • Justice delos Santos: "Palacios brothers share MLB field for the first time", mlb.com, August 23, 2023. [2]

Related Sites[edit]