Cubs’ Daniel Palencia wants the ‘ball tomorrow’ after tough outing vs. Brewers

The Chicago Cubs were just four innings away from pulling within six games of the Milwaukee Brewers and adding some intrigue to the final two battles of this divisional series, but their biggest bugaboo in August popped up on Sept. 1. An alarmingly fragile bullpen once again broke in half, as The North Siders blew a 3-0 lead and fell 9-4 in Wrigley Field on Tuesday night. The reliever woes started with Daniel Palencia.

Aside from tossing a clean inning versus the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 21, the 26-year-old has been dreadful since returning from a flexor strain in his right elbow. His descent continued versus Milwaukee. Palencia was asked to minimize the bleeding after Matthew Boyd allowed a single and a double to begin the sixth inning, but he made the wound much worse. The Venezuela native sent Brice Turang across home plate after committing a balk, gave up a double to Andrew Vaughn (could have been caught by Seiya Suzuki) and surrendered a two-run homer to Christian Yelich before recording the final two outs of the frame.

After tallying a 2.55 ERA in his first 20 appearances of the season, Palencia has allowed six runs in his last three outings. His ERA is now 4.95. He is not feeling timid, however. This man wants the chance to redeem himself pronto.

“I need to execute better on my pitches,” Palencia told reporters, per Marquee Sports Network, after getting charged with two runs in 2/3 of an inning. “It’s been tough for sure, but this is baseball. I have bad days. This is not me. Like I said, I want the ball tomorrow. I’m gonna be ready, and that’s it.”

"I need to execute better on my pitches … This is not me. Like I said, I want the ball tomorrow. I want to be ready."

Daniel Palencia on his outing tonight. pic.twitter.com/GnzZvq1QFT

— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) September 2, 2026

The fourth-year righty was bound to be a bit shaky after missing two months, but he is extremely difficult to trust right now. That being said, Palencia is definitely not the only Cubs hurler who has to reverse course. The bullpen is a complete disaster. Fans sweat almost every pitching change, and although he won’t admit it, the same may be true for manager Craig Counsell.

Every close game is an adventure. If MVP favorite Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs’ ferocious lineup are not operating to their full capacity, then Chicago could run into trouble during the playoffs. The bats, defense and starting pitching rotation could all execute their jobs, but the pen will determine this team’s ceiling.

Luckily, the Cubbies (78-61) have 23 regular season games to straighten out the unit. Daniel Palencia is eager to do his part, beginning in Wednesday’s home matchup versus the Brewers (86-53).

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