Chicago Cubs’ closer Daniel Palencia expresses frustration at lack of mound time

The Chicago Cubs have been riding a roller coaster of emotions and fortunes this season. After a 20-3 run that included two 10-game winning streaks, the team fell into the deep doldrums with a confidence-testing 10-game losing streak.

More News: Chicago Cubs: PCA’s poise has been a bright spot during tough times

Through the tail end of the winning streak and the entirety of the losing streak—where wins have been big and losses have been equally big—there really hasn’t been much use for a closer to lock down games. As such, hard-throwing right-hander Daniel Palencia has mostly been just hanging around doing nothing.

The 26-year-old has only logged one inning since May 20—with his last appearance to date being on May 26—and hasn’t had a save opportunity since May 14. On the year, he has just 10.2 innings pitched and has posted a 2.53 ERA with 3 saves.

Part of the inactivity issue is due to Palencia’s lat strain in mid-April which cost him about three weeks of potential playing time. But the perhaps the biggest culprit for his lack of work is just the fact that the Cubs have been so “feast or famine” this season.

Big expectations hit a roadblock

More News: Chicago Cubs: How the MLB cap proposal and labor dispute would affect the Cubs

Palencia, coming into this 2026 campaign after his utter domination for the WBC-winning Team Venezuela earlier in the spring, expected big things for his first full-season run as the Cubs’ closer. Those expectations have been dashed a bit by how this year has played out so far.

Palencia, himself, has acknowledged his frustration at having so few opportunities to showcase his abilities.

‘‘I would love to have more saves,’’ Palencia told reporters on Thursday before the Cubs’ 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park. ‘‘I want to be an All-Star; I want to be a great closer. So, yes, it’s kind of frustrating for me to keep my mind clean.’’

‘‘Things happen,’’ he added, referring to how things have panned out. ‘‘Sometimes you spend six days without throwing and then you may throw five days in a row.’’

Palencia needs to pitch

Whatever the case, Palencia needs work and manager Craig Counsell needs to find him some innings, even when the game is not on the line. If not, he may be put into high-leverage situations when he’s not at his sharpest, something which could rock his confidence or even lead to injury from over compensating.

The Cubs pitching staff as a whole has been rocked with injury this year. Three of the projected top five rotation arms are on the IL (Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, and Edward Cabrera—with Horton out for the season) and the bullpen has been hobbled by injury and inconsistency as well. This team cannot afford to also cross their closer off the list of reliable, contributing arms.

Palencia clearly wants the ball and Chicago needs to find a way to give it to him more than once every ten days or so.

The post Chicago Cubs’ closer Daniel Palencia expresses frustration at lack of mound time appeared first on ChiCitySports.

Source: https://www.chicitysports.com/chicago-cubs-closer-daniel-palencia-is-frustrated-inactivity-craig-counsell/