Daniel

Palencia

Chicago’s closer is progressing in his recovery from a minor flexor strain in his right elbow, but the club is going to take a cautious approach and not push him too quickly. Expect the Cubs to continue to patch together the ninth inning in his absence with Jacob Webb the most likely candidate to accrue saves.

That’s about the best possible news that the Cubs and fantasy managers could have received here. The expectation is that he’ll be shut down from throwing for about a week before starting to ramp back up. The Cubs will likely patch together the ninth inning in the meantime.

Not good. Palencia will presumably undergo an MRI to determine whether he’s dealing with any structural damage. There should be a clear return timetable at some point later this week. The hard-throwing 26-year-old stopper has converted all three of his save chances and holds a 2.70 ERA and 19/6 K/BB ratio across 16 2/3 innings this season. He missed a couple weeks earlier this season with a lat strain. It’ll likely be some combination of Jacob Webb, Caleb Thielbar and Phil Maton handling the closing duties in his absence. It’s probably a complete stay-away for fantasy managers outside of extremely deep formats.

A walk and two singles got Palencia charged with a loss after he entered a 2-2 game tonight. It was the fourth straight game in which Palencia was brought into a tie. He last had a save situation on May 14, and the only time he’s pitched with a lead since then was on May 30, when he finished off a 6-1 game.

That put Palencia in line for a loss, but Pete Crow-Armstrong picked him up with a game-tying homer. The Cubs went on to win in the bottom of the 10th. Palencia remains stuck on three saves, as the Cubs haven’t created any chances in three weeks. He has a 2.45 ERA and he’s clearly locked into the closer’s role, so the saves should come eventually.

Palencia opened the inning by striking out Michael Harris II and Mauricio Dubon before allowing a two-out single to Austin Riley that brought the tying run to the dish. That’s where Palencia dug deep and got Dominic Smith on a line drive to center to end the threat. For the season, the 26-year-old hurler now boasts a 2.25 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and a 9/2 K/BB ratio over eight innings while converting each of his first three save opportunities.

The save came in a five-run game after Palencia was brought in to face Nathaniel Lowe with the bases loaded. It’s his second of the year following his three-week absence due to a lat strain.

Palencia didn’t pitch in his first two days off the IL, and he wasn’t going to have the chance to close tonight with the Cubs at home and tied in the ninth. Still, he threw very well while facing four batters. He topped out at 101.9 mph and averaged 100.2 mph with his heater, which is 1.2 mph better than his season average,

The Cubs’ bullpen has been decimated by injuries, so getting their closer back should go a long way towards stabilizing things at the back end. Before landing on the injured list with a lat strain, the 26-year-old flame-thrower had fired five scoreless innings with a 1.00 WHIP and a 5/2 K/BB ratio while converting his lone save chance.

Chicago’s closer averaged 100.4 mph and topped out at 102 during the 19-pitch tune-up outing on the doorstep of the majors. He gave up one hit and also recorded one strikeout. The hard-throwing 26-year-old stopper is working his way back from a low-grade lat strain and could potentially return to the back-end of the Cubs’ bullpen later this weekend.