Damiano Palmegiani

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Toronto Blue Jays #19 prospect in 2024
  BA Grade: 45/High
  
  Track Record: Born in Venezuela, Palmegiani immigrated to British Columbia as a youth and grew up in Canada rooting for the Blue Jays. He was twice drafted by Toronto, first out of high school in the 35th round in 2018 and again in the 14th round in 2021. He got an opportunity to represent Canada in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and carried that momentum into the minor league season. Palmegiani has quickly ascended through the Blue Jays system, reaching Triple-A Buffalo by the end of 2023. Following the season he participated in the Arizona Fall League.
  
  Scouting Report: Palmegiani is a bat-driven infielder with a balance of skills. He’s a fringe-average contact hitter, adept at doing damage to pitches located middle-in. His stiff swing path lacks adjustability, and he can be beaten by good spin. Where Palmegiani excels is his approach. He rarely expands the zone and shows a good, balanced approach. His raw power is above-average and he gets to it in games. He shows the ability to backspin balls to his pull side with consistency. Palmegiani is a below-average runner and not a basestealing threat.vHe’s below-average at third base and shows particular difficulty going back on shallow fly balls. His arm is average but lacks accuracy. Palmegiani might move to first base.
  
  The Future: Palmegiani is the type of bat-first prospect the Blue Jays have had success with. He has a second-division regular upside.
  
  Scouting Grades Hit: 45 | Power: 55 | Run: 40 | Field: 40 | Arm: 45
• 
  Ranked Toronto Blue Jays #25 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High
  
  Track Record: Palmegiani was born in Venezuela but grew up in Canada. The Blue Jays twice drafted Palmegiani, first in the 35th round of the 2018 draft out of high school and again in 2021 out of Southern Nevada JC. He debuted out of the draft in the Florida Complex League and hit .333/.458/.538 over 17 games. He was assigned to Low-A Dunedin to start 2022 and hit .256/.351/.508 in the power-starved Florida State League. He was promoted to High-A Vancouver, where he hit .224/.335/.443 with 13 home runs over 62 games with his hometown Canadians. Palmegiani grew up a Blue Jays fan living in British Columbia.
  
  Scouting Report: A bat-first prospect, Palmegiani provides a robust combination of plate skills similar to fellow Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz. While his profile is slanted towards power, he's shown a unique ability to avoid strikeouts. He's an above-average contact hitter, with an above-average approach, who rarely expands the zone, and limits his swing and miss in-zone. While his raw power is just average his ability to backspin the ball allows his power to play a half grade above his raw power. Palmegiani can handle third base but his most likely defensive home is first base long term, as a limited defender overall and below-average runner.
  
  The Future: A bat-first prospect with a good combination of contact, approach and power, Palmegiani may hit enough to carve out a role as platoon bat or offensive-driven, second-division regular at first base.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55. Power: 55. Run: 40. Field: 40. Arm: 50.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #464 prospect in 2021 draft
  The native of British Columbia started his college career at Cal State Northridge in 2020, playing sparingly in the shortened season before transferring to the College of Southern Nevada, where he led the offense for the juco powerhouse. Palmegiani posted video-game numbers, with 26 home runs in 203 at-bats and a batting line of .389/.521/.867. He also walked (36) nearly as many times as he struck out (38), and was hit by a pitch 23 times. The power is his calling card, but some scouts wonder about the swing and miss in his game. Even more concerning is his defense, with his unsightly fielding percentage of .799 coming mostly at third base. A below-average defender with poor footwork and hands, his likely landing spot is in the corner outfield, where his average arm and fringe-average speed will play. Palmegiani may need more hitting instruction in order to better manipulate the barrel, and he didn’t face much premium velocity in junior college, which gives pause as to whether he will be able to handle the premium velocity that he’ll face in pro ball. He’s a risky pick for many reasons, but the raw power, along with good makeup, will be alluring enough to get him taken in the top-10 rounds. Although committed to Arizona, he’s considered to be signable.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High
  
  Track Record: Palmegiani was born in Venezuela but grew up in Canada. The Blue Jays twice drafted Palmegiani, first in the 35th round of the 2018 draft out of high school and again in 2021 out of Southern Nevada JC. He debuted out of the draft in the Florida Complex League and hit .333/.458/.538 over 17 games. He was assigned to Low-A Dunedin to start 2022 and hit .256/.351/.508 in the power-starved Florida State League. He was promoted to High-A Vancouver, where he hit .224/.335/.443 with 13 home runs over 62 games with his hometown Canadians. Palmegiani grew up a Blue Jays fan living in British Columbia.
  
  Scouting Report: A bat-first prospect, Palmegiani provides a robust combination of plate skills similar to fellow Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz. While his profile is slanted towards power, he's shown a unique ability to avoid strikeouts. He's an above-average contact hitter, with an above-average approach, who rarely expands the zone, and limits his swing and miss in-zone. While his raw power is just average his ability to backspin the ball allows his power to play a half grade above his raw power. Palmegiani can handle third base but his most likely defensive home is first base long term, as a limited defender overall and below-average runner.
  
  The Future: A bat-first prospect with a good combination of contact, approach and power, Palmegiani may hit enough to carve out a role as platoon bat or offensive-driven, second-division regular at first base.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55. Power: 55. Run: 40. Field: 40. Arm: 50.
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 40/High
  
  Track Record: Palmegiani was born in Venezuela but grew up in Canada. The Blue Jays twice drafted Palmegiani, first in the 35th round of the 2018 draft out of high school and again in 2021 out of Southern Nevada JC. He debuted out of the draft in the Florida Complex League and hit .333/.458/.538 over 17 games. He was assigned to Low-A Dunedin to start 2022 and hit .256/.351/.508 in the power-starved Florida State League. He was promoted to High-A Vancouver, where he hit .224/.335/.443 with 13 home runs over 62 games with his hometown Canadians. Palmegiani grew up a Blue Jays fan living in British Columbia.
  
  Scouting Report: A bat-first prospect, Palmegiani provides a robust combination of plate skills similar to fellow Blue Jays prospect Spencer Horwitz. While his profile is slanted towards power, he's shown a unique ability to avoid strikeouts. He's an above-average contact hitter, with an above-average approach, who rarely expands the zone, and limits his swing and miss in-zone. While his raw power is just average his ability to backspin the ball allows his power to play a half grade above his raw power. Palmegiani can handle third base but his most likely defensive home is first base long term, as a limited defender overall and below-average runner.
  
  The Future: A bat-first prospect with a good combination of contact, approach and power, Palmegiani may hit enough to carve out a role as platoon bat or offensive-driven, second-division regular at first base.
  
  Scouting Grades: Hit: 55. Power: 55. Run: 40. Field: 40. Arm: 50.