RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Daniel Palencia is nearing a return from the injured list.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be stepping right back into his role as the Cubs ’ closer.
Righty Jacob Webb has been terrific as the team’s closer/go-to reliever in games’ biggest moments. He has a 2.49 ERA and has been on a roll lately, without a run allowed in his last 18 appearances, including back-to-back 1-2-3 ninths in wins over the juggernaut Dodgers on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But perhaps independent of Webb’s success, whether the fireballing Palencia is destined to retake his place in the ninth inning or not, the Cubs aren’t planning to hand the keys back to someone whose season has been limited to just a handful of games by two IL stays.
“Initially, when Daniel comes back, we certainly should be flexible with where he pitches and just get him into some appearances,” manager Craig Counsell said Wednesday. “If we get to a place where we’re getting a little bit more defined [with roles], great. If we don’t, great. But certainly, when he comes back, we’re going to be flexible.”
Palencia has logged only 16 2/3 innings, much of his summer wiped out by elbow inflammation that’s sidelined him since mid June.
Palencia’s return is near, though not exactly imminent. Counsell said Palencia will make more than one minor league rehab appearance before coming back.
But Webb has earned the right to keep getting the call in the most critical late-inning moments, while Palencia needs to get his feet back under him before getting the types of assignments he’s had in the past.
“[Palencia] just hasn’t pitched [much] this year,” Counsell said. “That’s probably my concern right now. We’ve got to get innings under his belt. We think the injury is behind him, but we’ve got to be careful, too, at the start here. We’ve got to get some innings under his belt, too.”
No ‘revenge game’
Kevin Gausman getting traded from the Blue Jays to the Cubs means the righty won’t get a crack at a “revenge game” Thursday, when the two teams clash in a makeup of a rained-out June contest.
Gausman pitched in one of the other games in that series and was scorched for seven runs by the Cubs.
Upon discovering he’d been dealt to the Cubs, his dreams of revenge were dashed.
Then another emotion: Would he have to face his former team?
That won’t happen, either, with his Cubs debut set for this weekend in Kansas City.
“I’ve kind of had this [makeup] game circled for a while, knowing it was going to be my ‘revenge game,’” he joked Wednesday. “At first, [after the trade], I thought I was maybe going to pitch against the Blue Jays. That was going to be a little strange.”
Stuck in second
The Cubs came into Wednesday with the best record in the NL since June 11, at 31-15, but made up next to no ground on the division-leading Brewers during that stretch, with the NL Central’s top team going a barely-worse 29-18.
Though the Cubs are rolling, should they be worried about catching the Brewers?
“That’s not going to help,” Counsell said. “We would like to make up ground, but worrying about it is not going to help me do it. We get an opportunity to play them. That’s when we can worry about it. Other than that, we’ve just got to do our thing.”
The Cubs and Brewers play each other seven times during a 10-day stretch starting Aug. 31.
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