Joshua Palacios #9

Joshua John Palacios...His brother, Richie, plays in the Tampa Bay Rays organization...Is the nephew of former big leaguer Rey Palacios, who played parts of three seasons (1988-90) for Kansas City...Attended San Jacinto College (Texas) College before transferring to Auburn (Ala.) University... Hit .385 with a 1.071 OPS in 34 games for Auburn in 2016 before suffering a wrist injury... Growing up in Brooklyn, N.Y., was a fan of the New York Yankees...His favorite player was Derek Jeter... His hobbies include TV/movies, being a "foodie," and fashion...He enjoys both Spanish and Italian food, his favorite movie is Batman and his favorite show is Peaky Blinders.

2024

Began season with Indianapolis and went 6-for-27 (.222) with two RBI in eight games thru 4/10...Was placed on the 7-day injured list on 4/12 with a left knee injury (retro to 4/11)…Went 5-for-17 (.294) with two RBI in five rehab games with Bradenton from 4/30 through 5/11...Began a rehab assignment with Greensboro on 6/4; went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI...Homered in back-to-back games 6/8-9 vs. Jersey Shore...Returned from rehab and was activated from the I.L. at Indy on 6/11...Went 2-for-5 and hit his first home run with Indianapolis on 6/15 at Jacksonville...Went 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and three RBI on 6/28 at Rochester... Hit .370 (17-for-46) with four doubles, a homer, six RBI and a .953 OPS in 12 games with Indianapolis during the month of June...Was recalled on 7/4 and walked as a pinch hitter that afternoon vs. St. Louis...Homered and had two RBI on 7/8 vs. New York (NL)…Homered again the following day on 7/9 at Milwaukee...Hit safely in each of his first five games with the Pirates before going 0-for-4 on 7/11 at Milwaukee...Left the game on 7/29 at Houston with left hamstring discomfort... Was placed on the 10-day injured list on 7/31 with a left hamstring strain...Began a rehab assignment with Indianapolis on 8/8 and went 0-for-11 in four rehab games through 8/18...Was returned from rehab, reinstated from the I.L. and optioned to Indy on 8/19...Went 4-for-42 (.095) in 13 Triple-A games during the month of August...Went 4-for-5 with a club-record four doubles and four runs scored on 9/4 at Toledo; became the sixth International League player since 2005 to have four doubles in a game...Recorded eight total bases while going 3-for-3 with two doubles, a grand slam and five RBI on 9/8 at Toledo...Had three hits, including a triple, and scored three runs on 9/12 vs. Rochester...Went 3-for-4 with a double and a three-run homer on 9/14 vs. Rochester...Went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and a double on 9/20 at St. Paul...Hit a two-run homer on 9/21 at St. Paul...Reached base safely in each of his last 13 Triple-A games, going 22-for-54 (.407) with nine doubles, a triple, four homers, 15 RBI, a .475 OBP and a 1.308 OPS...Produced a .394 (26-for-66) batting average, 13 doubles, 22 runs and a 1.249 OPS in 16 games with Indy during the month of September...Was recalled on 9/24 and went 1-for-6 with a double and two RBI in three games.

2023

Shared the Major League lead in pinch-hit home runs (two), ranked second in RBI (eight) and tied for third among all players in pinch hits (eight)…Began the season with Double-A Altoona before being promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis on 4/21…Hit .556 (10-for-18) with three doubles, four home runs, 13 RBI and a 2.056 OPS in five games from 4/25-29 and was named the International League’s Player of the Week for the week of 4/24-30…Was selected to the Major League roster on 5/9…Made his first start with the Pirates in right field on 5/9 vs. Colorado…Went hitless in his first nine at-bats with the Pirates before going 3-for-4 with three RBI on 5/19 vs. Arizona…Connected off Giovanny Gallegos for his first big league home run on 6/2 vs. St. Louis…Went 4-for-22 (.182) with four RBI in 10 games during the month of July before being optioned to Triple-A on 7/17…Was recalled on 7/28 after Carlos Santana was traded to Milwaukee…Started in center field on 7/30 vs. Philadelphia on his 28th birthday and went 3-for-5 with a walk-off home run in the 10th inning…Became the first Pirate to hit a walk-off home run on his birthday, joining Alex Rodriguez as the only players in MLB history to have three hits and hit a walk-off home run on their birthday…Homered and had a career-high five RBI on 8/21 vs. St. Louis (with Richie Palacios of the Cardinals entering the game in the ninth inning on 8/21 and Joshua homering in the fourth inning, it marked just the third time in the modern era that the Pirates had a player hit a home run in a game that his brother also played for the opposing team)…Bounced a home run into the Allegheny River on 8/24 against Justin Steele of the Cubs…Hit a game-winning home run as a pinch hitter in the top of the ninth inning at St. Louis on 9/2 (also connected with a three-run homer as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning on 9/21 at Wrigley Field)…Hit .320 (24-for-75) with four home runs and 14 RBI in his final 28 games dating back to 8/27… Produced a .310 average (27-for-87) four home runs and 17 RBI while batting in the seventh inning or later.

2021

Recalled from the alternate site and made his MLB debut on April 9 vs. LAA, starting the game in right field before moving to left field in the 3rd inning…Finished the night 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and two strikeouts... Notched his 1st MLB hit on April 10 vs. LAA, picking up a bunt single in the 2nd inning before finishing the night 4-for-4 with four runs and a walk...Became the 2nd player in AL history with 4+ hits and 4+ runs in one of his first two career games (also: Milwaukee’s Wid Conroy - April 25, 1901)...Also became the 2nd player in Blue Jays history to have a four-hit game within his first two MLB contests, joining J.P. Arencibia (4H on Aug. 7, 2010 vs. TB), and is the only Blue Jay to reach base five times in a single contest within his first two games... Hit .241 with two doubles and two RBI in 16 total games for Triple-A Buffalo...Was on the Minor League injured list with a hand injury from May 10-Aug. 12... Recalled from the Bisons on Aug. 23 for his 2nd stint with Toronto...Went 0-for-7 in three games before being optioned on Aug. 30.

2020

Played in 13 games during Spring Training, going 2-for-21 with two runs scored, a double and three RBI...Joined the 60-player pool for Summer Camp at Rogers Centre in July and spent the season at the club’s alternate training site...Added to Toronto’s 40-man roster at the end of the year to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

2019

Spent the entire season with Double-A New Hampshire...Landed on the injured list from April 29-May 28...Homered in back-to-back games on Aug. 9 and 10...Finished the season strong, with three doubles, three home runs and six RBI while going 9-for-29 (.310) over his last eight games...Slashed .280/.376/.469 with five of his seven homers after the All-Star break.