Cleveland castaway Richie Palacios inserts himself into Cardinals’ conversation for 2024
A team with almost nothing to play for is only as interesting as its players allow it to be, and when some of those players start to be shut down with injuries or shuffled off into a late season preservation state, it can be tough to find something to watch.
That’s why it’s been somewhat quietly that Richie Palacios has put his thumb on what the roster building equation looks like for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024, but the thunder he provided this week is loud enough that he’s unlikely to stay under wraps.
The three home runs he delivered in two games in Baltimore might not be indicative of an ongoing power surge, but they are a part of his skill set which helps to highlight why the Cardinals may well see him as a valuable piece of their puzzle. Acquired by the Cardinals from Cleveland in June in a cash deal – he’d been designated for assignment by the Guardians and a trade let the Cardinals skip the risk of the waiver order – Palacios is getting a second chance after seeing circumstances beyond his control derail his prospect path.
Cleveland selected him from Towson University in the third round of the 2018 draft and watched him skip quickly through three levels in what remained of his minor league season. A torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, though, cost him the entire 2019 season, and his 2020 was scuttled by the pandemic. Returning to action in 2021, he posted an .874 OPS split between Double-A and Triple-A, and provided similar production at Triple-A in 2020, albeit while already 25 years old.
An uninspiring first spin in the majors with the Guardians last summer left him on the roster bubble, and the Cardinals were willing to pounce. Having had success with developing a number of players with somewhat similar skill sets in recent years, St. Louis now finds itself in a position to allow Palacios to act as depth should Brendan Donovan or Tommy Edman turn into tempting trade bait in their winter search for starting pitching.
It’s to Palacios’s benefit that he both hits left handed and can play all three outfield positions as well as second base. Flexibility is a highly valued trait in today’s match up-based game, and the Cardinals have shown a predilection toward players who can be used in a variety of situations.
Take, as a matter of contrast, the limited at bats provided to Luken Baker, despite his outrageous slugging numbers for Memphis this season. Palacios enters play Friday with only four fewer plate appearances in MLB than Baker this season; Baker made his debut in the majors two weeks before Palacios was traded to St. Louis, and more than two months before he was called up.
Baker only plays first and hits right handed. He’s a tough fit for a lineup that has the defending National League MVP doing precisely those things. Palacios, on the other hand, can get in anywhere he fits in, and he fits in a variety of places.
Turning a month of high energy play and good results at the plate into a plan for 600 plate appearances would be, of course, a significant overreaction. For all his successes, he’s not likely to survive over the long term with a home run rate nearly triple league average, a ground ball rate north of 50%, and a walk rate below five percent. That’s the profile of a hitter on a heater, not necessarily one posting a sustained breakout.
The skillset, though, is undeniable.
The Cardinals, drowning in a pitching deficit that sunk them to their first non-winning season since 2007, have shied away from past potential trades which would include either Donovan or Edman, in large part because of their belief that the rare things which they bring to a roster – swinging from the left side and ably playing multiple positions – would be missed if they were subtracted from the mix.
They undoubtedly would, but one way to soften those potential losses is to build in redundancy. The gamble on Palacios in June represented an opportunity to take such a player for a test drive, and even if he never makes it back to the big leagues after this season, he’s been more than worth the price they paid to bring him in.
The safe bet, though, is that he does indeed have a role to play on the 2024 club. Even if no position players are traded for pitchers this winter, unlikely as that may seem, Palacios has jumped several spots in line and marked himself down as a real contender to contribute in coming seasons.
With little to look forward to over the season’s dreary final weeks, keeping eyes peeled for players who might grow into responsibilities can be rewarding. With a new opportunity in front of him, Richie Palacios is well positioned to seize that reward.
This story was originally published September 15, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
