FORMER C’S – WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

CANADIANS DEBUT: JULY 21, 2016 CURRENTLY: ROCHESTER RED WINGS (TRIPLE-A, WAS)

Brooklyn, NY native Josh Palacios arrived in Vancouver on July 21, 2016 and immediately got to work. Toronto’s fourth round pick out of Auburn that year, Palacios erupted onto the Northwest League scene with 39 hits – 10 of which went for extra bases - in 28 games and posted a .355 average. He scored 15 times and drove in 13 while walking nearly as often as he struck out. Palacios made it through just over a month of action before the Blue Jays sent him to Low-A Lansing, where he finished the season 13-for38 (.342) in nine games for the Lugnuts.

The former Auburn Tiger returned to Lansing for all of 2017 then moved up to High-A Dunedin in 2018. He hit .292 for the D-Jays with a career-high eight home runs and was promoted to Double-A New Hampshire at the end of the season to help the Fisher Cats on their run to an Eastern League title under the tutelage of former C’s manager John Schneider. Back in New Hampshire for 2019, Palacios batted .266 in a season hampered by injuries that limited him to 82 games. He continued his development despite the lost 2020 season and began 2021 with a chance to make his first big league roster. Palacios debuted with Toronto on April 9, 2021 and went hitless against the Los Angeles Angels at TD Park in Dunedin, but he made history the next day when he went 4-for4 with an RBI. He would appear in 35 big league games and hit .200 with seven runs scored, four RBI and three walks. Palacios was again bit by the injury bug and only played in 16 games with Triple-A Buffalo over the course of the rest of the year. Competing for a big league job to begin Spring Training 2022, Palacios started

JOSH PALACIOShot to the tune of a .333 batting average in eight spring games. Despite that, a glut of Blue Jays outfield talent level had Palacios optioned to Buffalo on March 27 then designated for assignment on April 11. Unprotected, Palacios was claimed off waivers by the Washington Nationals on April 15 and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate in Rochester. In eight games with the Red Wings as of this writing, Palacios is hitting .360 with two homers, four runs scored and 10 RBI. His younger brother Richie recently made his MLB debut for the Cleveland Guardians.