Daniel

Palencia

Keller will have plenty of suitors and a healthy market this offseason after blossoming into a dominant high-leverage arm for the Cubs this past season, compiling a sparkling 2.07 ERA and 75/22 K/BB ratio across 69 2/3 innings over 68 appearances. The 30-year-old impending free agent, who made some mechanical tweaks this past season to unlock some additional velocity, will have plenty of fantasy appeal in drafts next spring, especially if he ends up back in Chicago to compete with Daniel Palencia for save chances or winds up elsewhere with a clear path to a ninth-inning role.

It was a remarkable bounce-back performance from Boyd, who managed to work into the fifth inning of a do-or-die affair for the Cubs after allowing just two runs in the opening contest of the best-of-five series. The 34-year-old veteran southpaw struck out six and allowed just two hits and three walks in this one as he and four relievers — Daniel Palencia, Drew Pomeranz, Brad Keller and Caleb Thielbar — combined on a three-hit shutout at Wrigley Field to keep Chicago’s postseason hopes alive.

Palencia entered the contest in the fifth inning after starter Matthew Boyd and proceeded to mow down the heart of San Diego’s lineup, sitting 99-101 mph with his fastball and dotting the corners with his slider in just his third game back from the injured list. The hard-throwing 25-year-old righty got the final out of the fifth to prevent any further damage against Boyd before coming back out to spin a flawless sixth. His return provides a significant lift to Chicago’s high-leverage mix.

Palencia’s return provides a massive lift to Chicago’s high-leverage mix heading into the postseason after missing just over two weeks with a shoulder strain. It’s fair to wonder if veteran Brad Keller will continue to get save opportunities since he’s done a phenomenal job filling in during Palencia’s absence.

Brad Keller has filled in admirably as Chicago’s primary stopper for the past two weeks with Palencia on the shelf recovering from a shoulder strain. The 25-year-old righty figures to make it back to the Cubs’ late-inning mix before the regular season wraps up next weekend, but he won’t make much of an impact for fantasy managers with only a handful of games left on the slate.

There’s no word yet on the severity of the strain, but it could sideline Palencia for the rest of the regular season. He suffered the injury during Sunday’s meltdown against the Nationals, when he was tagged for five runs in a blown save. His absence leaves Chicago’s ninth-inning role unsettled, though Andrew Kittredge is one of the favorites to step in given his prior closing experience. The other logical candidate is veteran Brad Keller, who has made the leap from journeyman swingman to dominant high-leverage arm this season.

The Cubs’ closer will head for further evaluation to determine the severity of the injury, but it sounds like a trip to the injured list could be in the cards here. He came on with the Cubs leading 3-1 in the ninth inning on Sunday and surrendered five runs on four hits and a walk — including a pair of home runs — without recording an out before he was mercifully lifted. Brad Keller has been terrific in a setup role and could be the next man up in the ninth inning, though Porter Hodge may be in the mix as well for save chances if Palencia misses any time.

The 25-year-old hurler came on with a one-run lead to protect and made things interesting by allowing a one-out single to Marcell Ozuna. Pinch-runner Luke Williams then swiped second base and advanced to third on a two-out infield single off the bat of Ha-Seong Kim. Not to worry though, as Palencia rallied to get Eli White on a fly ball to center to end the ballgame. He now holds a 2.16 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and a 57/15 K/BB ratio across 50 innings on the season while converting 22 of his first 24 save chances.

Palencia was called upon to pitch the bottom of the ninth inning with the score knotted at five runs apiece. He gave up a leadoff single to Ryan Ritter on the first pitch that he threw and three pitches later allowed a walk-off RBI triple to Mickey Moniak. He’s still secure in his ninth inning role for the Cubs and sports a terrific 2.20 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and a 56/15 K/BB ratio over 49 innings on the season, but this was clearly not his best work.

It’s yet another impressive outing from Palencia, who has been one of the best out-of-nowhere stories of the 2025 campaign. He now has 21 saves, and he lowered his ERA to an outstanding 2.02 while acquiring the latest one. He’ll occasionally allow some hard contact, but he’s one of the toughest pitchers to square up and there’s plenty of missed bats as well. Long story short, Palencia is deserving of these results, and should remain a strong option for the foreseeable future.