Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell observed right-hander Daniel Palencia from the dugout Monday night and thought something looked off.
Palencia didn’t feel great coming out of his outing on Wednesday in Colorado, and had four days off before getting the ball in the top of the ninth to try to keep the Cubs’ deficit at one run in their eventual walk-off victory over the Rockies. He walked the first batter he faced, then got a visit from a trainer and Counsell, who had become concerned by the body language the 26-year-old was projecting.
Palencia told them he was fine and proceeded to strike out the next three Rockies hitters, the last two batters on three pitches each. But Palencia’s elbow didn’t feel great following his outing and was symptomatic, issues that persisted Tuesday and resulted in the Cubs placing him on the 15-day IL with right elbow inflammation. Right-hander Gavin Hollowell was recalled from Triple-A Iowa to take his roster spot.
“You’ve got to just take the feedback and make a decision,” Counsell said of his mound visit to check on Palencia. “I mean, everybody wants to compete, and Danny wants to compete. You try to read through that, just make a decision.”
There are currently no plans for Palencia to undergo imaging on his elbow. He will receive treatment and see how his elbow responds.
“Elbow injuries are always of some concern,” Counsell said. “But we want to give it some days here just to kind of see how he feels.”
This represents Palencia’s second IL stint this season after missing three weeks from mid-April into May with a left oblique strain. Palencia entered the MLB season following a heavy workload in the World Baseball Classic for Venezuela. His country requested permission from the Cubs to push his usage beyond the initial agreement once they reached the championship game, which Palencia closed out against Japan. He pitched in five of their seven WBC games, including three times in a four-day stretch to end the tournament.
As for whether there is a cause-and-effect situation with Palencia’s injuries and his WBC workload, president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said Tuesday, “I don’t know, there’s no way to prove or disprove that at all.”
“I think we discussed at the time that wasn’t the most comfortable thing for the Cubs or the Brewers — there’s a lot of teams that were impacted by the schedule, I would say — but there’s no way to prove or disprove that, as with any of the WBC stuff that it is an unusual ramp up for guys. It’s an unusual time of year to be doing what they’re doing, and when guys get hurt or guys underperform early in the season or whatever, I think people ask those questions.
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“It’s certainly something that people are going to ask, and I understand why they ask.”
With Palencia sidelined, there is no obvious reliever to take over the role, though given the Cubs’ struggles over the last five weeks he didn’t get many save opportunities. Between his previous time on the IL and this stretch for the club, Palencia hasn’t recorded a save since May 14 and has three total saves this season. He owns a 2.70 ERA in 19 appearances. Expect to see left-handers Caleb Thielbar and Hoby Milner and right-handers Jacob Webb, in particular, in high leverage spots, with right-handers Trent Thornton and Phil Maton used in certain matchups.
“The difficulty is you lose a good pitcher, I think that’s why it’s harder,” Counsell said. “The guys will have to just get their outs, and it’ll be maybe not the same order every night, but the same guys.”