Chicago Cubs: Counsell hints at worries over Daniel Palencia WBC usage

Last season, Palencia shocked and awed as a mid-April call-up from Iowa, eventually winning the closer spot. Through the end of July, the hard-throwing righty had posted an impressive 1.40 ERA and was carrying himself with the swagger of an established veteran.

Then, came the struggles.

Over the final two months of the regular season, Palencia delivered a 7.07 ERA in 17 appearances and suffered through an IL stint after the first week of September.

It was a noteworthy fall from grace that put the young arm’s closer status in serious doubt for 2027.

Well, Palencia’s shutdown showing in the World Baseball Classic [WBC] as a member of the champion Team Venezuela has reinforced Counsell’s early spring declaration. In five high-leverage outings, the 26-year-old struck out 9, allowed no runs and no hits. He also closed the show in the championship game versus Team USA.

But, with the great WBC performance, there also come concerns.

Counsell concerned with Palencia’s WBC usage

Counsell recently hinted at, maybe, a discomfort at how his closer was used in the tournament.

“The usage is more than anybody would like at this time of year,” Counsell told media on Wednesday. “But the moment was also a moment that you want someone to experience. So if it was going to be usage that we weren’t comfortable with, we wanted to make sure it was in the moment that every player should get to experience.”

Arm health is a concern at this stage of the spring and Palencia was taxed at a mid-Summer level during the three-week spectacle.

Still, Counsell definitely sees a trade off when it comes to Palencia. The WBC experience was a shot of pure confidence into the body of a young man who could’ve entered into the spring with a few doubts after last season’s late collapse.

“It’s really a confidence thing,” Counsell said. “You’re in a really big moment, you know how you react to those moments. That’s the biggest thing when you’ve had success on the mound in a moment like that. It gives you a lot of confidence that you call on, probably when the bad stuff happens more than anything.”

Right now, Palencia is riding high. His self-belief has to be shooting through the roof, although he never really seemed to be lacking in confidence all that much before.

Hopefully, for the Cubs, this WBC experience has cemented the young pitcher’s status as a legit major league closer and that he’ll deliver a full season with the same fire he had on Team Venezuela.