Cubs Select Daniel Palencia
The Cubs have selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Palencia, a move first reported by Marcos Grunfeld of El Emergente. The full slate of moves, as relayed by Sahadev Sharma of The Athletic, also sees infielder Patrick Wisdom activated from the injured list. In corresponding active roster moves, infielder Nick Madrigal has been placed on the 10-day IL with a right hamstring strain while right-hander Hayden Wesneski has been optioned. To open a spot on the 40-man for Palencia, righty Brad Boxberger was transferred to the 60-day IL.
Palencia, 23, was originally a prospect with the Athletics, but came over to the Cubs in the 2021 trade that sent lefty Andrew Chafin to Oakland. He’s worked mostly as a starter, but the club recently converted him to relief work upon promoting him to Triple-A.
The results there have been mixed, as he’s posted an ERA of 7.90 through 13 outings. That’s a small sample and there might be some fluky bad luck in there, considering his 50.9% strand rate. He’s struck out 27.3% of batters faced while walking 10.6%. His 4.09 FIP suggests he has deserved better results than he’s actually gotten so far. The Cubs will give him a shot at getting big league hitters out and hope that the wheel of fortune spins in a better direction for him going forward.
Madrigal left yesterday’s game with hamstring tightness and will sit out the next 10 days. It’s unclear how severe his injury is, but the upcoming All-Star break would allow him to miss only a handful of games if it’s on the minor side. He’s only struck out in 9.6% of his plate appearances but has just one home run, producing a .278/.335/.364 batting line. His roster spot will go to a hitter with the opposite profile, as Wisdom has 14 homers but a massive 38.9% strikeout rate, leading to a line of .196/.285/.467.
As for Boxberger, he’ll been on the injured list since May 14 due to a right forearm strain. He’ll now be ineligible to return until 60 days from that initial IL placement, meaning he can technically return after the All-Star break. But since he hasn’t yet started a rehab assignment, that doesn’t seem especially likely, making this transaction a mere formality.
Justin Steele To Undergo MRI Due To Forearm Tightness
4:25pm: Steele will undergo an MRI, Ross tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.
4:05pm: Cubs left-hander Justin Steele was removed from today’s start after throwing three perfect innings. The trainer had visited him in that third inning and Steele finished the frame but didn’t return in the fourth. The club later announced to reporters, including Jesse Rogers of ESPN, that the southpaw was removed due to forearm tightness.
It’s too early for the club to have any kind of firm diagnosis on the issue, but Steele will undoubtedly undergo further testing to get a clearer picture of the situation. Forearm tightness is an ominous combination of words for a pitcher as it often precedes a serious ailment, though that’s not always the case. Nonetheless, it will be a situation to monitor given that Steele has only grown in importance recently.
Now 27, Steele broke out last year by posting a 3.18 ERA in 119 innings over 24 starts. He struck out 24.6% of batters faced, walked 9.8% and got grounders at a 51.2% rate. He’s only further cemented himself in the Chicago rotation this year, as his outing today dropped his ERA to 2.65. His strikeout and ground ball rates have declined slightly, but he’s also allowing far fewer walks and home runs.
With the recent return of Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs have a set rotation that also consists of Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon, Drew Smyly and Steele. The strength of that group pushed Hayden Wesneski out of the picture, as he was optioned to the minors earlier this month. He was recalled yesterday with the plan of him helping out of the bullpen, per Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. That has come into play quickly, as he jumped into today’s game when Steele departed, throwing 59 pitches over 3 2/3 innings.
Prior to getting optioned, Wesneski had been working as a starter and could perhaps do so again if Steele needs to miss any time. That would likely be a downgrade for the club, as the righty had a 5.03 ERA in his eight starts this year. He’s still young, 25 years old, and could certainly take a step forward. But Steele has been one of the 10 best pitchers in baseball in many categories this year, including ERA, FIP and fWAR. It would be unfair to expect just about any pitcher to step in and replicate that kind of production.
There could also potentially be effects elsewhere in the club’s system, as Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reported earlier today that the club was open to various paths to supplementing its bullpen. Codi Heuer is working his way back from last year’s Tommy John surgery, but the club has also seemingly given some thought to promoting youngsters like Ben Brown or Daniel Palencia. “Everyone is on the radar at this point,” manager David Ross said. “We’re hoping Codi comes back soon. That could be, hopefully, another big-league arm that is able to help us out. Ben Brown has been throwing the ball really well in the starter role. Palencia has been sent to the ‘pen, to work out of the ‘pen and try to learn that role — what that consists of, how to go back-to-back, the recovery with all that. There’s a plan in place, for sure, and big-picture stuff. But this is what we’ve got right now. We have conversations daily about those things.”
Brown, 23, came over from the Phillies in the David Robertson trade. He has a 2.25 ERA through nine starts this year, split between Double-A and Triple-A. Palencia, meanwhile, came over from the Athletics in the 2021 Andrew Chafin deal. He had a 5.87 ERA through five Double-A starts this year before getting bumped to the Triple-A bullpen for his two most recent appearances. Neither player has made their major league debut yet but Brown does have a 40-man roster spot.
The club is scrambling a bit to try to cover for a poor performance from its bullpen so far this year. Their relievers have a collective ERA of 4.55 on the season, a mark that places them 27th out of the 30 clubs in the league. All of these conversations were happening before Steele’s departure today. If that proves to be an injury of any significance, it would only stretch their staff further, though they will surely be hoping it proves to be something minor that passes quickly.