Richie Palacios of the Tampa Bay Rays reacts during the fifth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Estadio Quisqueya on March 10, 2024 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (Photo by Bryan Bennett/Getty Images)
Outfielder Richie Palacios made the Tampa Bay Rays opening day roster, he indicated with a post on his X profile on March 25.
T minus 3 days 😏⚾️ pic.twitter.com/8ojPKZvljp
— Richie Palacios (@richiemille) March 25, 2024
The Rays have not yet announced that Palacios is on the opening day roster. He is listed on the active roster on the Rays team website.
Palacios, 26, was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. and has played two seasons in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Guardians in 2022 and the St. Louis Cardinals in 2023. The Cardinals traded Palacios to the Rays on Jan. 5 in exchange for right-handed pitcher Andrew Kittredge.
Palacios played in 20 games during spring training and hit .308 in 52 at-bats with 16 hits, two doubles, three home runs, four RBI, 5 walks, and 11 strikeouts.
Last season, Palacios started the season in the Guardians organization at Triple-A Columbus and played in 56 games, batting .217 over 269 plate appearances with 47 hits, 13 doubles, three home runs, 30 RBI, six stolen bases, 41 walks, 41 strikeouts, and a .669 OPS. He was traded to St. Louis on June 16 in exchange for cash and was assigned to Triple-A Memphis the same day.
Palacios split his time between St. Louis and Triple-A Memphis for the remainder of the 2023 season. In Memphis, he played in 40 games and hit .299 with 47 hits, 10 doubles, five home runs, 29 RBI, three stolen bases, 32 walks, and 20 strikeouts before he was called up to St. Louis on Aug. 17.
With the Cardinals, the left-handed hitter played in 32 games and batted .258 with 24 hits, six doubles, six home runs, 16 RBI, six walks, and 11 strikeouts.
Palacios played for the Netherlands at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, appearing in one game, going hitless in three at-bats and striking out once. He was eligible to play with the nation since his mother is from Curacao in the Dutch Caribbean.
During the 2022-23 Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente season in Puerto Rico with the Indios de Mayagüez, Palacios played in 20 games and batted .217 with 15 hits, two doubles, one home run, eight RBI, four stolen bases, 16 walks, and 15 strikeouts.
In 2022, Palacios made his MLB debut on April 25 after starting the season in Triple-A Columbus, and split his time between Columbus and the Guardians for most of the year. With Columbus, he played in 45 games and hit .279 in 206 plate appearances, recording 50 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, four home runs, 36 RBI, 12 stolen bases, 24 walks, 43 strikeouts, and a .829 OPS.
With the Guardians, Palacios batted .232 in 54 games with 123 plate appearances and 26 hits, six doubles, 10 RBI, nine walks, 20 strikeouts, and a .578 OPS.
Palacios can play all three outfield positions and will be in the mix rotating with Jose Siri, Amed Rosario, and Harold Ramirez during the 2024 regular season.
The Rays will play their first game of the 2024 regular season at home against their American League East Division rival, the Toronto Blue Jays on March 28 at 4:10 p.m. EST.