The Skinny on Brewers Prospect Luis Lara and Pirates Signing Joshua Palacios From A Guy Who Coached Both

David Valdez took a minute to field a phone call from yours truly recently. We discussed the signing by the Pittsburgh Pirates of FerryHawks Outfielder Joshua Palacios and the Milwaukee Brewers promotion of Louis Lara from their AAA Nashville Sounds.

Coach Valdez has worked with both and scouted one of them.

When Carlos Mirabal was hired to manage the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball’s Staten Island FerryHawks, he called Valdez and explained he had “one thing” for Coach Valdez to do.

“This kid, Joshua Palacios,” Coach Valdez recalled Mirabal saying.  “I think if you work with him, he can go back to the major leagues because I think you're the only person who can straighten out his head, his playing style.”

Prior to signing with the Staten Island FerryHawks, Palacios had spent parts of five seasons in the majors. The work coach Valdez and Palacios put in resulted in a .339 batting average with a 1055 OPS in 145 plate appearances, and selection to the ALPB All-Star Game.

The ALPB doesn’t play an All-Star Game; it’s a manager's vote only. Even if they did, Palacios couldn’t play, as he is in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization now.

On July 7, Palacios signed with the Pirates for the second time in his career. That doesn’t give the 30-year-old outfielder enough time to accumulate significant statistics. In a scant 19 ABs, he has two hits playing for the Pirates AAA Indianapolis Indians.

Coach Valdez said Palacios can adjust to any pitching style as he is backed by a rare combination of hitting for average and power and being a good baserunner. Valdez concluded, “The guy is a workaholic and he’s very coachable.”

When in the employ of the Milwaukee Brewers, Coach Valdez filed the organization’s first scouting report on Outfielder Louis Lara. Valdez said the 21-year-old Lara is an amazing person who does everything with love and intensity.

Lara was the 67th overall prospect in baseball at the time of his promotion from Nashville to Milwaukee. As his MLB Pipeline scouting report indicates, he is known more for his glove than his bat.

So far, Lara has flipped the script, albeit with a short sample size, six games, by which to judge. His Outs Above Average is 0, which means league average. Lara is batting .294 with a .782 OPS. He has had 21 plate appearances.

Milwaukee outfielder Luis Lara (left) and Staten Island hitting coach David Valdez as members of Milwaukee's Class A Carolina Mudcats in August 2023.

The above has been updated from its original entry in a series titled The Other Side of Baseball: A Look at Non- MLB Play. 

Charles I. Guarria is an author, reporter and host based in the state of Florida, USA, covering any topic, anywhere in the world. His career began in 2009. Mr. Guarria is a three-time winner of Emerald Group Publishing’s Highly Commended Award and host of The Opinion Guy Fun Friendly Informative. He is available for hire to write, research, or beta-read. 

Please support this blog and my show, The Opinion Guy, by buying me a tea. Thank you!

All likes, comments, and shares are welcome!

Sign-up for first to know info!

Photo credits: David Valdez, ALPB

~30~