Cubs place Daniel Palencia on IL with elbow inflammation

Daniel Palencia was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation Tuesday, the Cubs’ second IL trip this season for the closer after an oblique injury. It comes as the Cubs keep losing pitchers across the roster, with their pitching staff already battered

Tuesday didn’t start with good news for the Cubs. Right-hander Daniel Palencia — their closer and the sharpest weapon they’ve had in the ninth inning — landed on the injured list with elbow inflammation. It was his second trip to the IL this season, after he previously missed time with an oblique injury.

Palencia had pitched the ninth inning of Monday’s walk-off win. At one point, manager Craig Counsell and a trainer visited him on the field. He stayed in the game and struck out three consecutive batters, but the elbow didn’t fully settle afterward. The Cubs ultimately decided an IL stint was the right move.

Counsell described what happened after the Colorado game, which ended Wednesday. “Coming out of the Colorado game [last] Wednesday, he didn’t feel great,” Counsell said Tuesday. “We had four days off between outings. He recovered great, felt good going into last night.”

Then, he said, the concern returned in a way that didn’t match what Palencia initially projected.

“I was just concerned that the body language wasn’t normal. [During the mound visit], he said he was fine, but then he had symptoms afterwards and the elbow didn’t feel great afterwards and didn’t feel good today.”

When asked whether the Cubs would have ended up in the same place if Palencia had been removed from Monday’s game, Counsell said yes. The pitcher, he explained, insisted he was fine — and even after the visit he got the job done by striking out the side.

“The pitcher was like, ‘I’m fine, I’m fine.’ And he struck out the side after that,” Jed Hoyer said Tuesday. “But out of an abundance of caution, it makes sense to put him on the IL.”

Hoyer pointed out that the decision wasn’t based on performance alone.

“Certainly, when a manager goes out there for that reason, oftentimes [the player] comes out,” Hoyer said. “He was insistent that he felt great, and he kind of doubled down on that by pitching really well after that. But given the conversations after the game, it made sense to IL him.”

There was no estimate of how long Palencia will be out.

For the Cubs, the timing is brutal. Palencia has been reliable and high-octane in the ninth inning in a way that’s hard to replace. especially with this season’s pitching injuries stacking up. Last season, he saved 22 games and posted a 2.91 ERA. This year. his ERA has been lower — 2.70 through 19 relief appearances — but the injury problems have pushed save opportunities into short. rare windows. After being sidelined for the oblique injury, Palencia went nearly a month between outings, from April 12 to May 5. During that stretch and the surrounding disruption, he recorded just three saves.

That leaves the Cubs with another hole to fill. right after they’ve already been forced to shuffle because so much else has gone wrong on the pitching front. The closer’s absence arrives as the Cubs are already down three members of their Opening Day starting rotation. Cade Horton. Matthew Boyd. Justin Steele. and Jameson Taillon are all still on the IL. and Edward Cabrera left early with the trainer Tuesday night.

In the bullpen, the need for stopgaps isn’t theoretical. On Monday’s win, two veterans struggled in the late innings. Phil Maton hit a batter and walked in a run, and Caleb Thielbar gave up a three-run homer.

Now it’s on the relief corps — many of whom have dealt with injuries and on-field struggles this season — to absorb the responsibility that comes with a missing closer.

“They’ll have to get their outs,” Counsell said. “It’ll maybe not be the same order every night, but it’ll be the same guys, just in different orders.”

The Cubs’ bullpen has, at least on the numbers, been better than it was a year ago. They entered Tuesday with a lower bullpen ERA this season (3.63) than they did last year (3.78). Still. the human part of late-inning baseball is that the ninth inning can’t wait for the spreadsheet to catch up — and replacing Palencia doesn’t come with a clear substitute who brings the same role. rhythm. and trust.

The difficulty of the situation is harder to ignore because of where the Cubs are right now. With Palencia unavailable. they also have to keep winning without the kind of late-inning security that turns close games into stable results. They’ve posted a 12-23 record in their last 35 games. and save opportunities have been scarce. making the closer position feel even more critical than usual.

One last question hangs over the whole season’s injury story: how much, if anything, might Palencia’s pitching for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic have contributed to his injuries?

Hoyer didn’t dismiss the concern — he just couldn’t confirm it.

“Who knows?. I don’t know, there’s no way to prove or disprove that at all,” Hoyer said. “We discussed at the time that wasn’t the most comfortable thing for the Cubs – or the Brewers. there were a lot of teams that were impacted by the schedule. I would say. But there’s no way to prove or disprove that.”.

He called it an unusual ramp-up and acknowledged that when injuries and early underperformance pile up, people will ask.

“It is an unusual ramp-up for guys. it’s an unusual time to be doing what they’re doing. ” Hoyer said. “And when guys get hurt or guys underperform early in the season, people ask those questions. There’s no way to know what causes that. but it’s something people are going to ask and I understand why they ask it.”.

For now, the Cubs will proceed without Palencia — and with a bullpen that’s already been asked to do too much, too often, in a season where pitching injuries keep finding them at the worst possible times.

Daniel Palencia Cubs injured list elbow inflammation closer Craig Counsell Jed Hoyer Phil Maton Caleb Thielbar World Baseball Classic Venezuela