Palencia displaying his mound dominance on global stage

This story was excerpted from Jordan Bastian’s Cubs Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MESA, Ariz. -- Arguably the best baseball player on the planet stood between Daniel Palencia and punching Team Venezuela’s ticket to the World Baseball Classic semifinals on Saturday night. Palencia unleashed one of his high-octane fastballs and Shohei Ohtani flew out to end Japan’s title defense.

The party was on in Miami, and Palencia was in the middle of the pile.

“It looks like he’s in control,” Cubs catcher Carson Kelly said on Sunday morning. “A young player, big moments, the moment can get big and you see a little bit of the deer-in-the-headlights look. He doesn’t have that.”

Palencia closed out the ninth inning of Venezuela’s wild 8-5 comeback win over Samurai Japan, striking out Sosuke Genda and Kensuke Kondoh before the victory-clinching out off Ohtani’s bat. Cubs fans know all about Palencia, but this put his overpowering arsenal on display on an international stage and against one of the globe’s best teams.

Venezuela is now set to take on Team Italy in the Classic semifinals Monday night at 7 p.m. CT on FS1. So far, Palencia has appeared in three games for his country in the tourney, allowing no runs or hits in three innings, while striking out five and walking just one.

Two years ago, the words “in control” were not attached to descriptions of Palencia. The hard-throwing righty was wild and needed time to develop, harness his stuff and earn trust in the process. Palencia began last year with Triple-A Iowa, but he seized the closing duties in Chicago by mid-season and was used as a multi-inning, mid-game fireman during the playoffs.

Palencia’s World Baseball Classic save was just another big moment tossed atop a growing pile.

“It’s a great experience for him,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said on Sunday. “He’s been in some pretty big moments already, so it’s not the first one. But he had a great night last night. He had a fun night last night. He had a great experience last night. If anything, I think it makes the tournament like, ‘I’m really glad I did this,’ from Daniel’s perspective.”

Palencia joined the Cubs’ bullpen in April last year and notched the first of 22 saves on May 21. Over 54 appearances, the righty turned in a 2.91 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 16 walks in 52 2/3 innings. That came after posting a 6.14 ERA in a 10-game taste of the Majors in 2024. During the playoffs, Palencia posted a zero in five of his six outings, logging four multi-inning efforts while pitching between the third and sixth innings for Counsell.

Counsell typically does not apply labels to his pitchers, but the manager made an exception out of the gates this spring when he named Palencia the team’s closer. That is the kind of trust the 26-year-old pitcher has built not only with Counsell, but with his teammates.

“It seems like he’s getting better when those big moments arise,” Kelly said. “I think in the early part of the year, he was amped up a little bit. And as the season would go on, it would slow down for him. For him, it’s continuing to pump confidence into him. He’s got really good stuff.”