Callix Crabbe has had the fortune to see several of his young players make the jump from Class AA to the majors this season. The Altoona Curve's manager has watched Henry Davis and Liover Peguero become regulars in the Pirates' lineup, not to mention delivering the news to Drew Maggi in one of the feel-good stories of the year.
But when he talks about players he's managed making the jump to the majors, Joshua Palacios is the first person he speaks of.
Palacios wasn't a typical Double-A player. He already had a couple cups of coffee up in the majors the previous two seasons, but was left exposed in the minor-league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The Pirates took him in the second round, but did not invite him to major-league spring training. When the season rolled around, Palacios found himself in Altoona rather than Indianapolis.
Crabbe wanted to make sure Palacios was in a good head space being back in the Eastern League, and the outfielder's response stuck with the manager.
"He said, 'Crabbe, I'm not here to be bitter. I'm here to get better,' " Crabbe said. "That was literally the quote that he used."
Talking with Palacios during the team's most recent road trip in Atlanta, I asked Palacios about that quote. He had just come back from the World Baseball Classic, where he played for the Netherlands. He was down on himself before the tournament because he wasn't in the major-league camp, but playing alongside players who were hoping for even a minor-league opportunity gave him perspective and helped build that fire.
"As long as I'm still playing and affiliated and a professional, I still have that chance to get better," Palacios said. "I have to keep that mindset, keep that thought to get better, because at some point, it will become undeniable."
On Tuesday at PNC Park, Palacios showed one of his old clubs, the Nationals, exactly how he has gotten better this season, both at the dish:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) September 13, 2023
And in the field, throwing out Ildemaro Vargas at home on a 93.4 mph frozen rope, his hardest measured throw of the season:
— DK Pittsburgh Sports (@DKPSvideos) September 13, 2023
Off the bat it looked like Vargas could score from second before a throw home could develop, but as Endy Rodríguez would tell me postgame, "Bro, when you have a right fielder like that with a cannon, you have time for anything."
“I mean, overall, good at bats," Derek Shelton said. "Even his outs were loud. And he made a great throw, which was a big throw at that point. Overall, I don’t think he could have played a better game.”
Palacios' efforts, plus six innings of one-run ball from Bailey Falter, propelled the Pirates to a 5-1 win over the Nationals.
For someone who didn't know for certain what major-league opportunities he would get after being let go by the Nationals, he got to enjoy a game being the player with the best night on the field. He would go on to pick up a walk, another hit and a stolen base as well.
"I’ve been through this a little bit," Palacios said after the win. "I try to not think about those things. I try to put it out of my mind. I felt like there was no major leagues; Double-A was my major leagues. Just go out there every day and try to get better. Those things, you can’t really control what happens with the front office and call ups and all that. But you control how you play every day, you control your attitude, and you can control getting better."
Palacios earned another major-league opportunity by tearing up the minors. He's been getting more regular playing time of late since Henry Davis hit the injured list last month. In his last 14 games, Palacios has homered twice, is a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts and is hitting .324 (12-for-37).
This power surge has carried him of late, homering seven times in his 110 trips to the plate since being recalled from the minors on July 28. While his .674 season OPS is still below average, it isn't reflective on the strides he's made as a hitter over the past couple months.
"I’ve always hit the ball really hard, but I hit it on the ground," Palacios said. "They were helping me with getting the ball in the air the right way, trying to lift the ball. Since I’ve been doing that, I’ve been hitting the ball the way I was before. It’s just going in the air and getting out of the park."
“He’s a lot quieter hitting,” the Nationals' manager, Dave Martinez, said after this game, via the Washington Post. “He’s not jumping as much. He’s getting good pitches to hit, and he’s swinging the bat well. He’s swinging the bat aggressive. But I noticed that he’s more under control a little bit and he’s staying behind the baseball.”
Palacios opened the scoring Tuesday with a two-run homer, the big hit on a night where the Pirates left 15 men on base. Getting that many men to reach safely is a good sign, and the Pirates brought enough of them home through nontraditional matters, including productive outs by Bryan Reynolds and Ke'Bryan Hayes. But the lineup needs to be deeper going into 2024, and having someone like Palacios in the mix has helped this year.
"We talked at the beginning of the year if guys perform, even if they’re not on the roster, then they’re going to have an opportunity to get at bats," Shelton said. "He’s done it and [he's] deserving.”
The Pirates are going to have to do some roster trimming at some point this winter, and the outfield group is one area that could see some cuts. The three outfield jobs could already be spoken for between Reynolds, Jack Suwinski and Davis, but Palacios has filled in admirably in those spots. He's made some good impressions for someone who wasn't even in the big-league camp to start the year.
He's had more than a handful of games where he was the big contributor to a win. To rattle off a few, there was the walk-off home run on his birthday, homering multiple times when he finally got to play against his brother, Richie. Earlier this month, he came off the bench to deliver a go-ahead home run in the ninth to beat the Cardinals. Fourth outfielders usually don't get this many days in the sun.
He hasn't taken much time yet to reflect on those special moments, though.
"We’re still in the heat of the season," Palacios said. "At the end of the year, I’ll look back and enjoy some of those moments, but right now, today was a great day, but what can we do tomorrow to win another game?"
JUSTIN K. ALLER / GETTY
The Nationals' Ildemaro Vargas is tagged out by Endy Rodriguez in the seventh inning Tuesday night at PNC Park.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
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THE HIGHLIGHTS
THE INJURIES
• 10-day injured list: RF Henry Davis (thumb)
• 60-day injured list: SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow), INF Tucupita Marcano (knee), LHP Angel Perdomo (elbow), RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Ji Hwan Bae, 2B
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
4. Jack Suwinski, RF
5. Connor Joe, 1B
6. Endy Rodríguez, C
7. Joshua Palacios, RF
8. Miguel Andújar, DH
9. Alika Williams, SS
And for Dave Martinez's Nationals:
1. CJ Abrams, SS
2. Lane Thomas, RF
3. Keibert Ruiz, C
4. Joey Meneses, DH
5. Ildemaro Vargas, 2B
6. Carter Kieboom, 3B
7. Dominic Smith, 1B
8. Alex Call, LF
9. Jacob Young, CF
THE SCHEDULE
Colin Selby (2-1, 8.64) will serve as the opener Wednesday, likely for Quinn Priester (2-2, 9.10), who is currently on the taxi squad. Jackson Rutledge, Washington's first-round pick in 2019, will make his big-league debut to counter. First pitch is 6:35 p.m. I'll have you covered.
THE MULTIMEDIA
THE CONTENT
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