White Sox Tab Joshua Palacios As Leadoff Hitter Wednesday Against Twins

MINNEAPOLIS – There's a new name atop the White Sox lineup for Wednesday's 6:40 p.m. CT game against the Twins: Joshua Palacios.

Palacios has made six starts and pinch hit in five additional games in his first season with the White Sox. He signed a minor-league deal with the team in April and was called up from Triple-A Charlotte on April 10, when fellow outfielder Mike Tauchman hit the injured list with a right hamstring strain.

Manager Will Venable explained the decision to put Palacios in the leadoff spot before Wednesday's game.

"He's done a good job controlling the zone," Venable said. "Want him to go do his thing at the top of the order, and we're just looking at different ways to spark this offense. It was his turn up to see what he can do in the leadoff spot."

The White Sox have used six different leadoff hitters this season: Palacios, Miguel Vargas, Nick Maton, Mike Tauchman, Luis Robert Jr. and Chase Meidroth. Vargas has led off in a team-high 10 games, but he hasn't done so since April 16 against the Athletics.

A combination of injuries, performance, matchups and other factors have led to those changes at the top.

"I don't think it's trying out as much as we have who we have here, and that changes every day as guys get injured, as guys need days off," Venable said. "So it's just kind of like on that day, what are we going to do? And it's about just trying to string good things together. So you kind of have to input a lot of different things into your calculus. Today, it just ended up that Josh was leading off."

White Sox leadoff hitters have combined for a .191 batting average, seventh highest among all spots. The fifth spot has produced the highest batting average, .289, which is at least 70 points higher than any other spot.

Playing right field on Wednesday, Palacios is excited for his change to improve that number.

"Yeah, looking to do anything I can to help the team in the leadoff role," Palacios said pregame. "Obviously the first thing you want to do is get on base to help the guys behind me. You got [Andrew] Benintendi, Luis [Robert Jr.], [Andrew] Vaughn, a lot of guys that can slug and do some big things. So my goal is to get on base and stir up some chaos on the bases if I can."

Across 25 plate appearances, Palacios has two runs, four hits, one RBI, two walks and seven strikeouts. He talked about his focus in recent batting practice sessions before Wednesday's game.

"Just been locking in on the guys and focusing a lot on the direction, like just maintaining the direction, keeping it simple," Palacios said. "Sometimes I get to pulling off the ball or swinging a little off with the direction, so just trying to keep that thing middle through the field, and that'll help the swing and help everything else."

Palacios has bounced around from Toronto to Washington to Pittsburgh and now to Chicago since making his MLB debut in 2021 as a former fourth-round pick in 2016 out of Auburn. The most games he played at the major league level came in 2023, when he appeared in 91 games for the Pirates. Palacios had a .239 batting average and a .692 OPS in 264 plate appearances, along with 10 home runs, 40 RBI, five stolen bases, 12 walks and 56 strikeouts.

Now he's looking to make a mark with the White Sox, and Wednesday's game is a prime opportunity in the leadoff spot.

"It goes back to the beginning, doing anything I can to help the team win," Palacios said." I love winning, we all love winning here. So pretty much trying to be selfless and do anything I can, whether it be late in the game putting the ball in play, or getting a bunt down, or having quality at-bats, or playing defense, just anything we can to help the team win the game."

"It's been great," he said of joining the White Sox. "Just a great team here, a lot of great guys around here. The coaching staff has been absolutely amazing, so I'm starting to get comfortable with the guys and everything and building some relationships. But I couldn't be more happy to be here with this solid group of guys."

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