Palacios is the 282nd former Northwoods League player to debut in MLB
Rochester, Minn. – Former Wisconsin Rapids Rafter Richie Palacios, made his Major League debut for the Cleveland Guardians on Monday, April 25, 2022. Palacios is the 282nd former Northwoods League player to reach the Major League level.
Palacios, who played collegiately at Towson University, played for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters in 2016. He was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2018 MLB Draft by the Indians.
In 2016 with the Rafters, Palacios played in 12 games and hit .327 with three doubles and five stolen bases. He drove in eight and scored 11 times.
Palacios began his professional career in 2018 with the Indians Rookie level team in the Arizona League. After five games he was promoted to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers of the Short-Season A New York-Penn League. After 20 games with the Scrappers, he moved up again to the Lake County Captains of the Lo-A Midwest League. For the season he hit .361 in 45 games with six home runs, eight doubles and two triples. He drove in 30, scored 26 times and stole seven bases.
He would miss the 2019 season with a torn labrum but returned in 2021 and started the season with the Akron RubberDucks of the AA Northeast League. He would play in 66 games in Akron before another promotion to end the season to the Columbus Clippers of the AAA East League. Between the two clubs he hit a combined .297 with seven home runs, 33 doubles and four triples. He stole 20 bases, drove in 48 runs, and scored 72 times.
Prior to his call-up to the Guardians, Palacios had played in 14 games in Columbus and was hitting .232 with one home run, five doubles, three stolen bases and 15 RBI. In his Major League debut against the Angels, he started the game in left field and went 2 for 3 at the plate.
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The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 280 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live for FREE via the Northwoods League website at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
