Why Daniel Palencia isn’t getting any saves as Cubs closer originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Nothing is wrong with Daniel Palencia.
Despite that, the Chicago Cubs closer is hardly getting any saves this season.
In fact, Palencia hasn’t gotten a single save since May 14. That was only his third of the season.
Palencia, the Cubs’ closer, has pitched in 13 games (and missed a bit of time with injury). Ten of those haven’t resulted in a save.
He’s finished nine of those 13 games, but only three of those nine game finishes were saves.
He’s got a 2.31 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings, but the saves aren’t coming.
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Why isn’t Daniel Palencia getting any saves for Cubs?
The Cubs simply aren’t creating save situations for Palencia.
He pitched with the Cubs trailing 2-1 on Tuesday night just because he hadn’t thrown in a while. His outing before that came with the Cubs up 6-1.
Daniel Palencia may never get another save opportunity with the Cubs. Not because of his performance, mind you. https://t.co/nbiEnEly1c
— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) June 3, 2026
The Cubs have had both a double-digit winning streak and a double-digit losing streak this season. Obviously, he’s not getting any saves during a long streak of losses.
But even in wins, the Cubs’ most recent victories have been by five runs, five runs and six runs.
The most classic save situations begin with a lead of three runs or less.
Palencia has just been unlucky. He’s still good when he’s on the mound. He just hasn’t been given save situations hardly at all this season.
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