Palumbo got his first win since coming off the disabled list, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out nine over 5.1 innings for High-A Down East on Tuesday.
Palumbo, working his way back from Tommy John elbow surgery, has struck out 20 in 10.1 innings over his last two starts. A 32nd-rounder taken in the 2013 draft, the 23-year-old left-hander with a slight frame had advanced slowly through the system until a breakout season in 2016, when he led the Low-A South Atlantic League in strikeout rate and opponents' batting average. He was looking like a top pitching prospect in the system early in 2017 before the elbow injury. Palumbo's 11.3 K/9 in 27 innings for Down East is no fluke, and he's part of a corps of lower-level starters the organization will look to develop over the next 12-to-18 months.