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The Cubs placed Palencia on the 15-day injured list Friday with a left oblique strain.
It's unclear when Palencia -- who hasn't pitched since Sunday -- was hurt, but the injury will knock him out at least for the next couple weeks and likely longer. The Cubs are also currently without Hunter Harvey (triceps) and Phil Maton (knee), so their late-inning bullpen depth is thin. Caleb Thielbar could be the next man up for saves, with Ben Brown also an option.
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Cubs' Daniel Palencia: Picks up win against Pittsburgh
Rotowire
Palencia (1-0) picked up the win over the Pirates on Sunday, allowing one walk with two strikeouts in a hitless and scoreless ninth inning.
With the game tied 6-6 in the top of the ninth, Palencia came on and struck out Konnor Griffin, got Joey Bart to ground out, walked Oneil Cruz and struck out Brandon Lowe. The Cubs walked it off in the bottom half of the inning to get Palencia his first win of the 2026 campaign. Chicago's closer has pitched in five games to this point and has yet to allow a run with a 5:2 K:BB across five innings. He's recorded just one save.
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Cubs' Daniel Palencia: Secures first save Sunday
Rotowire
Palencia tossed a scoreless ninth inning with a strikeout to earn the save in a 1-0 win over the Guardians in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader.
Palencia has been sharp so far this year with three scoreless appearances, though Sunday marked his first save opportunity and conversion. The hard-throwing righty led the Cubs with 22 regular-season saves in 2025, and that was after not beginning the year as the team's closer. Palencia was the Opening Day closer this year, and the save chances should start to stack up as the season progresses, giving him a fairly high ceiling as a fantasy option.
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Cubs' Daniel Palencia: Closes door in non-save situation
Rotowire
Palencia worked around a hit in a scoreless frame in Wednesday's 6-2 win over the Angels. He struck out one and walked none.
Palencia has now made two scoreless appearances so far this season but has yet to see any save opportunities. Those should come for the flamethrowing righty, who looked good as Chicago's closer last year and then continued to impress for Team Venezuela during its championship run through the World Baseball Classic last month. Palencia is the Cubs' unquestioned end-game option, with offseason additions Hunter Harvey and Phil Maton working ahead of him in setup roles.
Across five appearances for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, Palencia did not allow a hit while logging five scoreless innings and striking out nine.
Palencia closed out Venezuela's win over the United States on Tuesday to win the WBC, and it continued a dominant stretch for the flamethrowing righty throughout the tournament. Following a breakout 2025 campaign in which he recorded a 2.91 ERA, 22 saves and 61 strikeouts across 52.2 innings for the Cubs during the regular season, Palencia has already been named the team's closer heading into 2026 and could be in line for even better production now that his role in the bullpen is secure.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday that Palencia will open the season as the team's closer, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.
Palencia had a breakout 2025 campaign for the Cubs, putting up a 2.91 ERA and 61:16 K:BB over 52.2 regular-season innings while notching 22 saves. He missed time in September with a shoulder injury and, after returning, ceded the closer role to Brad Keller. However, after Keller signed with the Phillies this offseason, Palencia is set to return to the ninth inning. There's some risk that Palencia's control will regress in 2026, as he had a 7.4 percent walk rate in 2025 after walking batters at a 13.8 percent clip his first two seasons. However, the 26-year-old has electric stuff and showed last season he can handle the pressure of the ninth inning.
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