Smurf's Canadian Prospect Follows...
...next up is Damiano Palmegiani
Time for our next Canadian Prospect Follow for the 2023 season. Sit back, relax and let’s get straight into it…
Damiano Palmegiani
Another familiar name for those have followed along for some time. Let’s hit some quick background to get started:
DOB 01/24/2000, Caracas, Venezuela
moved to Surrey, BC when he was 6 years old
6 ft 1 in, 195 lbs, R/R
Drafted TWICE by the Blue Jays -
in 2018, 35th round selection out of high school (Vauxhall)
in 2021, 14th round, pick 422 out of College of Southern Nevada
Team Canada member for the 2023 World Baseball Classic
Damiano’s frame is strongly built already and there isn’t much, if any, physical projection remaining. As you would expect with that type of build, power is the tool of this profile. Evaluators have put above average to plus grades on the tool. Prospects Live data backs up those up with 90th percentile exit velocities at similar grades.
With great power comes great responsibility. Palmegiani shows that with an above average approach at the plate, rarely expanding the zone and makes good swing decisions. Let’s take a look at some 2022 numbers:
BB% 11.4, K% 22.1
wOBA .349, .219 ISO
FB% 52.1, HR/FB% 14.8
There’s a lot to like. Above average walk rate with a reasonable K% for a young hitter. Above average wOBA and a great ISO. The most interesting I found were a well above average fly ball rate and an above average-to-great HR/FB percentage. Damiano gets the ball in the air way more than average and gets a HR at a great percentage per fly ball hit…..a combination I like, but also made me pause. Let’s check the park factors out from Baseball America on the the West Coast in Vancouver, where he played homes games. Park Factor for HR is bang on average, which alleviates concerns about inflated numbers due to the ballpark where he played most. Looking at what have so far and there’s a very compelling profile from a hitter perspective.
Palmegiani Grand Slam … video from Baseball is Everything
If there is a question on Palmegiani’s profile, it would fall on the defensive side. Evaluators have either given a 40 or 45 on the fielding grade but has shown improvements at the hot corner. There is plenty of arm to go along with improving defense to play a respectable, if not spectacular 3B. Spending a good amount of time at 1B as well adds to his versatility and may end up being his long term defensive home.
A solid combination of hitting tools with an improving defensive skill set makes Damiano a definite Canadian follow for 2023. Hopefully he can start the 2023 year off with some success wearing the Maple Leaf at WBC in March.
That will wrap it up for today. Thank you for checking in and I’ll be talking with you in a while. As always, until then…Keep It 80 Grade.
2023 Season Follows:
Damiano Palmegiani🍁 , 1B/3B, Toronto
Denzel Clarke 🍁, CF, Oakland
Tsung-Che Cheng, SS, Pittsburgh
Kenedy Corona, RF, Houston
Will Dion, LHP, Cleveland
Juan Mercedes, RHP, Seattle