Joe Palumbo (baseball)


Joseph Anthony Palumbo Jr. is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.

Career

Palumbo transferred to St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School, in West Islip, New York after his sophomore year of high school. Due to institution age rules, he was forced to reclassify back to a sophomore and complete five years of high school. Due to New York state rules, he was deemed to have exhausted his eligibility after his junior year and was made ineligible for his senior season. He instead pitched for the Long Island Black Sox, a local men's league baseball team, where he was seen by Rangers area scout Takeshi Sakurayama. The Texas Rangers selected Palumbo in the 30th round, with the 910th overall selection, of the 2013 MLB draft. He signed for a $32,000 signing bonus, forgoing a commitment to San Jacinto College.

Professional career

After signing, he made his professional debut with the AZL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, going 1–1 with a 5.03 ERA in innings pitched. In 2014, he returned to the AZL Rangers and compiled a 4–4 record with a 2.32 ERA over innings in 14 games. In 2015, he pitched for the Spokane Indians of the Class A Short Season Northwest League and the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League, pitching to a combined 3–3 record with a 3.07 ERA over innings in 13 games. Palumbo spent 2016 with Hickory where he posted a 7–5 record and 2.24 ERA in innings pitched.
Palumbo began 2017 with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. After compiling a 0.66 ERA with 22 strikeouts over innings in three starts, he underwent Tommy John Surgery in April and missed the remainder of the season. The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season.
Palumbo rehabbed through Tommy John surgery in the first half of the 2018 season, returning to game action June 24. In a combined 11 starts between the AZL Rangers, Down East, and Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League, he posted a 2–4 record with a 2.78 ERA and 59 strikeouts in innings. Palumbo was ranked as the #105 overall prospect in baseball by ESPN's Keith Law, on his just missed preseason 2019 Top 100 list.
In 2019, Palumbo split minor league time between Frisco and the Nashville Sounds of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, going a combined 3–0 with a 3.01 ERA and 108 strikeouts over innings.
On June 8, he was promoted to the major leagues for the first time, to start versus the Oakland Athletics. In his debut, he allowed four runs over four innings of work, while recording four strikeouts. Palumbo missed over three weeks due to a blister suffered during a game on August 20. Palumbo finished the 2019 season going 0–3 with a 9.18 ERA and 21 strikeouts over innings for Texas.