In a number of ways, Joshua Palacios’ New York City upbringing is noticeable in the person he is today. For starters, a few seconds of listening to the Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder speak gives away his Brooklyn roots. At age 28, the accent is still strong. When it comes to his demeanor and how he conducts himself on the baseball diamond, Palacios also points to Brooklyn. "Playing baseball in Brooklyn, too, it’s more high-energy. It’s more intense,” Palacios said. "We played pretty much every game like it was the World Series growing up, and I was told to be competitive about every single pitch, never accepting defeat and always battling. That’s where it came from.” Since he arrived in Pittsburgh, Palacios has endeared himself to teammates and management with his energetic demeanor over parts of two seasons with the Pirates. "He’s a guy that plays with a lot of energy and that’s great,” first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe said. "Every team needs someone like that — spark plug or whatever the term is. But his energy in the clubhouse is infectious, and it’s been fun to watch him go about it.” Last year, Palacios showed promise in 91 games with the Pirates, hitting 10 home runs and collecting 40 RBIs. However, his slash line (.239/.279/.413) proved to be pedestrian. • Pirates place OF Bryan Reynolds on bereavement list, add Ji Hwan Bae to taxi squad • 'Lots of shades of gray': Pirates will weigh value of dealing top prospects at trade deadline • Woman scores free tickets after blocked view at home Pirates game Palacios did not make the Major League roster to begin this season, instead accepting assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis at the end of spring training. While with the Indians, Palacios found himself sidelined by injury for much of April and May. After completing rehab assignments with the Bradenton Marauders and Greensboro Grasshoppers, Palacios got in a groove back at Triple-A, hitting.370 in June. The Pirates came calling July 4 and to date, he’s appeared in 16 games for the club, batting.234 with two homers and five RBIs. Palacios believes he’s capable of more, but even with a small sample size of at-bats, he feels that progress is being made at the plate. "It’s been solid so far,” he said. "Definitely still some room for improvement, but I’ve been locked in on a few things like making sure I’m swinging at better pitches, being more disciplined and taking what the pitcher gives me. So, I’ve been trying to roll through that. I’m happy with the progress, but there’s definitely room for improvement still.” Hitting for power and the ability to knock in runs were among Palacios’ biggest offensive contributions last year but so far into 2024, he’s been a more disciplined batter. Granted, Palacios only has 47 at-bats and is less than a month into his current stint with the Pirates. But so far, his strikeout rate is 13%, down considerably from 23% last season. "I’m more locked into how much am I trusting my process. How much did I trust in my approach and my process? The more I do that, the better results are, like side effects of it,” Palacios said. "I’ve been tinkering with the process and it appears to be working, so it’s more about just trusting it and believing in it.” Additionally, Palacios has boosted his on-base percentage to.333, up from.279 in 2023. With how few games and at-bats Palacios has logged so far, his aforementioned numbers could be subject to steep drop-offs in the event of a dry spell at the plate. But for manager Derek Shelton, Palacios is showing signs of growing as he absorbs the lessons taught by making more big-league appearances. "I think he’s swinging it,” Shelton said. "The more comfortable you get — comfortable is probably a bad word — the more adjusted you get to Major League pitching, and knowing which pitches you can and cannot swing at, will help you do that. That’s just a growth thing that comes with experience.” Defensively, Palacios saw action at all outfield spots last year. In 2024, he’s played primarily in right field while making his first start in center July 21 against Philadelphia. He didn’t take long to make an impact, robbing Phillies leadoff man Kyle Schwarber of an extra-base hit by tracking down a ball hit toward the North Side Notch, making the catch at the edge of the PNC Park bullpen gate before decelerating and catching himself on the left-center field wall. Joshua Palacios. What a CATCH! pic.twitter.com/DvWTK9GcAn — Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 21, 2024 "He did a good job for us last year,” Shelton said. "The biggest thing for Josh, and I know people talk about it — this guy’s energetic and he provides energy to our club that I think is really important for us. The most important thing this year was getting him healthy enough to get him back here. "That was the thing when he was in (Indianapolis), building him up because he didn’t have any spring training. Once we got him to the point where we felt he was built up and could play enough games in a row, we felt he was important to add back.” Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com. Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free. Get Ad-Free > Sign Up for NotificationsStay up-to-date on important news from TribLIVE