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Josh Palacios had taken the ride to Citi Field with his family plenty of times as a kid growing up in Brooklyn. But there was something different on Saturday when he left his parents’ house and got into the car with his father: they were driving to the stadium for Palacios’ first start there as a Major Leaguer.

“It felt just like old times,” Palacios, 27, said. “We came back from a baseball game at night in the summer … went to sleep, woke up with all my family there, got ready, ate some lunch and went with my dad to the park.”

Palacios made his big league debut last season with the Blue Jays, but he was not with the team for any games in New York. When he was called back up to the Nationals on Aug. 20, they still had two series at the Mets remaining on the schedule.

“It took six years [in the Minor Leagues], and he’s finally doing it,” said Palacios’ father, Richard. “I think it’s a great accomplishment, but also it’s a warm-welcome homecoming for him to be able to do it in New York. It’s just so exciting.”

While Palacios has played in road series with the Nats, he considered the trip to Citi Field as “the first time I feel like I’m actually in The Show.”

“As a mom and as a dad,” said Palacios’ mother, Lianne, “We would have sacrificed everything -- our happiness and everything -- just so he could have that moment and he could feel like he has accomplished something here in New York City with his New York City family and friends here. To come here and play in front of us is just a great feeling.”

Like most of his family members, Palacios was a Yankees fan. (Well, up until he was struck out by the Yanks in 2021, he chuckled.) His maternal grandfather, Edgar Younge, however, passionately rooted for the Mets.

When his grandparents lived with his family during the summers, Palacios would dash up and down floors of the house between commercial breaks to watch Yankees games with his father in the kitchen and Mets games with his grandfather in the basement.

“My dad, who passed away three years ago, was a die-hard Mets fan,” said Lianne. “But he was a fan of his grandchildren. So it brings a lot of emotion, because he definitely would have been here to watch his grandson play on a field against a team that he loved for a very long time.”

Palacios estimates there were 60-70 family and friends at Citi Field each day of the three-game series to watch his first games in Queens. (His younger brother, Richie, was playing that weekend in Kansas City as an outfielder for the Guardians.) He had a close circle on the field to watch batting practice, and he even got surprised as the innings went on playing in right field.

“I was getting people calling me by old nicknames,” Palacios said. “I was turning around and I saw old coaches, guys I played with and people I know from the neighborhood. It was pretty crazy.”

As Palacios saw his future from the outfield, the batter’s box and the dugout at Citi Field, being at the ballpark also provided an appreciative look back to his past. Palacios and his father (also his former coach) talked about hitting on their ride to the park, a conversation they have had before, only these talks were about approaches against Max Scherzer and the Mets' staff. Palacios finished that game 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

“[That ride] meant everything because you think back to when you were in sandlot baseball, and you can never get those times back,” Palacios said. "I thought I’d never be able to do that again. It was just a beautiful experience.”