Beware the small sample size, but the Cubs got a ninth inning on Sunday from Daniel Palencia they haven’t seen in a while. The circumstances weren’t him closing out a win, but nevertheless it bodes well when Palencia is tossing a scoreless frame and hitting triple digits with his fastball.
In the 4-3 loss to the Pirates, Palencia’s heater had more late movement to it, contributing to four swinging strikes out of the 18 pitches he threw. He ramped up to 100 miles per hour three different times, the last on a foul tip strikeout that ended the top of the ninth inning.
Again, it’s a very small sample, but every turn in the right direction has to start this way.
“I feel better. I feel in a good spot right now,” Palencia said. “I feel more confidence in myself. I just go [out] there and try to enjoy the games, have fun. When I’m doing that, everything’s working.
“Right now I’m just trying to be a kid playing baseball.”
It’s been a hard season for Palencia to do that. He strained his left oblique in April, which sent him to the injured list for two weeks. Just over a month after he returned from that injury, Palencia hit the IL again with right elbow inflammation.
After a two-month road back to the mound, Palencia struggled mightily when he returned to the Cubs, giving up runs in four of his first five appearances. Only lately, especially on Sunday, has Palencia started to look like himself again.
He generated more swing and miss in his inning against the Pirates, and in each of his last four appearances, Palencia has not given up an earned run. Palencia might not yet be ready to take back the closer role — something he says he’s not vying for at this point — but if he can get back to pitching like a high-leverage guy, that will do wonders for a Cubs bullpen in need of a boost.
“I thought it was [Palencia’s] best outing since he’s been off the injured list, absolutely. That was encouraging to see,” manager Craig Counsell said of the reliever’s performance on Sunday.
Through the struggles his bullpen has had in the last few weeks, Counsell has stressed the value and importance of getting those same pitchers back on the mound in order to get them right again. He believes in the value of in-game feedback in helping pitchers figure out what’s not working.
And in Palencia’s case, there’s value in giving him chances to pitch like he did on Sunday in order to restore some of the confidence that has diminished during his time on the injured list and through a string of bad outings.
“It’s why you just keep putting him out there,” Counsell said of Palencia. “And when it happens, did he figure out something in this outing, did he feel something, it’s going to happen on the mound. He made some good pitches the whole outing, so that’s encouraging to see for sure, and hopefully we can build on it.”
Palencia said he’s been working on making some mechanical tweaks since returning to the Cubs on August 21 in an effort to address what’s taken the movement out of his fastball. But at the same time, he said getting back to looking like a flamethrowing closer has had as much to do with self-confidence.
“I’ve been working with the pitching coaches here and my people in Venezuela, [they have] helped me a lot,” Palencia said. “And I think the most important thing was the confidence. Just feeling like myself and being ready.”
Though Palencia said he does not have his eyes on being the closer again, at least not for now, he said he knows that for a team in the Cubs’ position, with their sights set on a playoff spot, he wants to be in the right place both mechanically and mentally in order to pitch in those big moments.
It feels like a long time ago now, but just this spring Palencia was lights out for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. He delivered an epic final inning for his country in the championship game, securing a WBC title. Back then, Cubs fans — and Palencia’s Cubs teammates — were dreaming about seeing him do the same thing in a Cubs uniform in October.
That may happen yet.
“It was awesome to see him do that today. He’s instrumental for us,” starter Matt Boyd said. “We know what he can do when he’s on, and he’s just getting more and more reps, and that’s only going to benefit him.”
There are just twelve games left in the regular season, and that doesn’t leave a lot of time for figuring things out. The Cubs have succeeded thus far thanks mostly to their offense and defense, both top-ranked in baseball.
But playoff series and championships require good pitching, and on that front the Cubs have not looked good. They had the lowest-ranked staff in Fangraphs’ wins above replacement coming into Sunday’s game. That’s a very hard thing to overcome in October.
The Cubs were stymied by the Brewers in the division series last fall in part because they didn’t have the starting pitching to compete with them through a five-game set. Their starting staff is arguably in better shape now than last October, but the high-leverage moments get amplified in the playoffs.
And that’s where getting Palencia back in good form can make a world of difference. Even if he’s not the traditional closer, having him shut down offenses at key moments in playoff games — whenever those come — can be a gamechanger.
“We are a team who’s supposed to be in the playoffs, so I want to be ready,” Palencia said. “I want to feel sure, [and] I feel like [I’m] in a good spot. I just want to pitch and get ready for those big moments.”
Keeping it a one-run game in the night on Sunday is a step towards that, and Palencia knows it. After he struck out Bryan Reynolds to end the inning, he didn’t hold back on celebrating that moment.
“That’s me. I’m just trying to enjoy baseball. I’m just having fun right now,” he said. “With these guys, everybody here is playing for the win, so that’s me.”
