Sixteen days later, Palencia was able to return to game action, getting a pair of tune-up outings, but was no longer the team’s closer. He’d lost the role he’d earned with his dominant performance over the course of the season. Veterans Brad Keller and Andrew Kittredge would man the eighth and ninth for much of September.
Palencia didn’t pout. As the playoffs approached, his manager, Craig Counsell, told him to be ready for any situation. Palencia took on the challenge. Having shown Counsell what he could do over the course of the season, the veteran skipper decided to unleash one of his best relievers in the biggest moment of the team’s 3-1 victory over the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series on Tuesday.
In the fifth inning, with a man on first, one out and the Cubs trailing 1-0, Counsell pulled starter Matthew Boyd in favor of Palencia. The hard-throwing righty needed just five pitches to retire leadoff man Fernando Tatis Jr. and Luis Arraez and keep his team within one.
“He was closing,” Counsell said, referencing Palencia’s previous role. “This is the same to me. The way that outing happened and what the result was is like closing.”
Counsell talks about pitchers in terms of out-getters rather than having traditional roles. And that’s exactly how he used Palencia. The 25-year-old’s day wasn’t done after those two outs. After the Cubs hit a pair of back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 2-1 lead, Counsell sent Palencia back out for the sixth to face Manny Machado, Jackson Merrill and Xander Bogaerts. Palencia hadn’t been asked to do an up-down and get more than three outs in a game in nearly four months. However, this is the postseason, and more is expected of relievers.
“My mindset was just be aggressive,” Palencia said. “I’m the guy for that situation. I know they are great hitters, but I’m a great pitcher, too. It’s them versus me. This time I won.”
Knowing who their opponent would be for some time, Palencia said he’s been preparing for the Padres’ best hitters for a little while now. The reliever got Machado to strike out on a nasty slider. He got ahead of Merrill with another slider, then got him to swing through a pair of fastballs — the last one registering at 101.2 mph — sending him back to the dugout on three pitches. Two pitches later, he retired Bogaerts to cap off a brilliant outing.
“That was honestly the turning point in the game,” Keller said. “Especially for us in the bullpen watching him go out there, go one-plus, strike out a bunch of guys. Go right through the heart of their order, which is really good, that was awesome to see. You could tell with every pitch he was gaining more and more confidence. When he’s on, it’s electric and it’s a lot of fun to watch.”
The bullpen was masterful the rest of the way with Drew Pomeranz, Kittredge and Keller retiring nine straight to put an exclamation point on a perfect day for the relievers. Palencia’s outs, while not coming in what would traditionally be the most high-leverage moments, felt like the biggest of them all.
“Him throwing up five outs in five hitters and going through the top of their lineup, the game made sense after that to me, know what I mean?” Counsell said. “There was a real path right there. Credit to Danny for putting the game back together.”
After a disappointing 2024 where Palencia’s results never matched his nasty stuff, the young pitcher rededicated himself in the offseason. He admitted that he’d lost the joy he once had when coming to the ballpark and arrived every day fearing the worst. He began to adjust his mindset and took better care of his body, focusing on his diet and getting in better shape.
It paid off. Despite not starting the season on the big-league roster, Palencia was eventually called up in mid-April and was there to stay. As the end of May neared, he had earned the closer’s role. But he’s shown that the biggest outs can come at any point, especially when the postseason arrives.
“I’ve been preparing my body and my mind since the offseason,” Palencia said. “This is the moment I want to be there. We’re ready. Like I said to Counsell, my job is making outs. That’s it.”
As Palencia watched Pete Crow-Armstrong casually catch Bogaerts’ hard liner to end the sixth, he turned back around, let out a scream, encouraged the crowd to get loud and let out another roar while flexing. It was a release of emotion that had been a long time coming.
“Just adrenaline,” Palencia said. “Seeing this field, watching all those fans support us, it makes me love my job.”
All that had been building up. Palencia watched his teammates flip the script in the bottom half of the fifth. One might think a pitcher about to go back onto the field and face the heart of the Padres’ lineup may try to stay even-keeled. Instead, as Seiya Suzuki and Carson Kelly launched home runs into the bleachers, Palencia was in the middle of the madness.
“He was out of the dugout waving a towel at one point during those homers,” Ian Happ said. “To calm himself back down and get those outs was big.”
“He’s been doing that all year,” Dansby Swanson said. “He’s been so great for us. It’s been really fun to see him come into his own and really just be aggressive and attack with his best stuff, forcing people to hit him. He’s a joy to play behind. He obviously brings a lot of energy and intensity when he’s on the mound.”
Coming into the series, the Padres bullpen was getting the headlines — and deservedly so. The group had been electric all year long and got better at the deadline when San Diego acquired Mason Miller. But at least for one game, the Cubs’ unheralded group, fueled by its gas-throwing reliever, helped seal the team’s first postseason victory in nearly eight years. Only 12 more before the Cubs can party like it’s 2016.
(Photo: Matt Dirksen / Chicago Cubs / Getty Images)