Joshua Palacios

Palacios joined the Pirates for the 2023 season, his third organization in as many campaigns. He was also afforded his most significant sample in the majors, as he racked up 264 plate appearances while primarily manning corner outfield positions in Pittsburgh. His surface-level stats won't show it, but there were some positives to take out of that sample as Palacios dropped his strikeout rate to a palatable 21.6 percent. He also managed a 10.3 percent barrel rate and 109.6 max exit velocity. In order to truly leverage that raw power, Palacios will need to lift the ball more frequently. He had a well below-average 7.4 degree launch angle and 32.6 percent flyball rate, with the end result being a forgettable .174 ISO and .413 slugging percentage. Based on Palacios' big-league sample to this point, that doesn't seem likely. However, if he falls into an everyday job - a possibility if the Pirates don't add to their outfield this offseason -- his progress could be worth monitoring in deeper formats, especially because he should also chip in some stolen bases with consistent playing time.

The Blue Jays designated Palacios for assignment last spring and the Nationals didn't see enough in 2022 to want to keep him around. Pittsburgh ended up selecting Palacios in the second round of the minor-league phase of the Rule 5 draft in December, providing the outfielder with another fresh start. Palacios brings decent speed to the table, but he hasn't been able to cut it in center field. His bat is a tough sell in a corner-outfield spot although he showed last year that he can make contact and swipe bags at a high level of professional baseball (15.7 K%, 19 steals in 76 games with Triple-A Rochester). Pittsburgh will be a land of opportunity in 2023, and while he's not on the 40-man roster, Palacios could get his eventually if the Pirates need to dig into the organization for outfield reinforcements.