Noah Palmese, a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher from Seminole, Florida, was drafted by the
Blue Jays in the 14th round (2025) out of Webber International University, a private university located about an hour and a half south of Orlando. Webber International was the third and final stop of Palmese’s college career, part of a baseball journey that he referred to as ‘interesting’ and ‘not a typical run-of-the-mill or smooth journey at all’.
After posting a stellar 0.95 ERA and a near-4-to-1 K:BB ratio during his
senior year at Seminole High School, Palmese stayed in Florida and attended Daytona State College. Between his freshman and sophomore seasons, he improved in nearly every statistical category, bringing his ERA down from 7.77 to 4.75, his WHIP down from 2.29 to 1.81, and he threw 15 more strikeouts in the same number of games while also lowering his walk total.
After two years at Daytona State, Palmese transferred to Erskine College, but things did not go too well during his lone season there. He pitched to an 8.41 ERA over 46 innings, as well as holding a 6.5 BB/9.
“I had a rough season and decided it was time for me to go somewhere else,” Palmese recalled, speaking to Blue Jays Nation. “I wasn’t exactly happy there. Even if I were to do good, I probably would’ve still gone somewhere else. It just wasn’t the right fit for me.”
That’s when Palmese transferred over to Webber International, and that’s also when his trajectory turned for the best.
Much like his jump from his freshman to sophomore season at Daytona State, Palmese had followed the same script here, except this jump was even better.
Pitching exclusively as a reliever for the first time in college, he posted a 2.78 ERA and 0.88 WHIP along with a collegiate-best 12.9 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9. He had
scoreless streaks of nine and seven games throughout the 2025 season while also pitching a variety of lengths, whether it was less than an inning or three innings. His efforts during his senior season earned him the 2025 NAIA Reliever of the Year award.
Palmese gave the coaching staff at Webber International a lot of credit.
“I had a great experience there. [There were] wonderful coaches who were there, like, anything you needed, helped me through there,” Palmese said of his time at Webber International. “That was probably the best choice I could’ve made. It wasn’t necessarily the most conventional choice to go NAIA, but it ended up being the right one.”
Palmese joins seven other pitchers from their
2025 draft class that the Blue Jays were able to sign. He hasn’t been able to get into any game action yet and has only been training so far; a common staple from the Jays’ drafting perspective with collegiate pitchers. A Florida native, Palmese was already aware of the Blue Jays’ facilities and actually attended a pre-draft camp at the Blue Jays complex earlier this year, giving him an opportunity to see the facilities in Dunedin more in depth.
Palmese spoke highly about the staff and his brief time with the Blue Jays, noting it was a big change relative to where he was pitching in college. He also pointed out that he’s bound to learn a lot more about his game once the club gets to see him pitch more, but one thing he’ll take with him is the biggest thing he learned in college: trusting himself.
“There’s no changing who you are when you’re out on the mound; it’s your stuff versus the hitter,” Palmese said. “No matter how hard you try to be something you’re not, it’s not going to work. You have to learn to trust yourself and know what you’re good at and be confident with what you have.”
The Blue Jays haven’t given Palmese too many expectations for his offseason outside of getting stronger and staying healthy.
Since his offseason started, he has had a chance to watch the Blue Jays during their World Series run in October.
“It was great. It was really exciting to see what a team can do when they work together. It wasn’t just a bunch of All-Star talent like a big powerhouse team,” said Palmese. “Everybody played together. Guys stepped up when they needed to.”
While Palmese prepares for the upcoming season, he knows he doesn’t need to go outside of his comfort zone to succeed at the professional level.
“I know I’m good enough to get here,” explained Palmese. “I don’t need to be on my own trying to set some expectation for myself. My goal is to stay within myself and keep doing what I know I can do.”
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