RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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SEATTLE – Daniel Palencia returned to the Cubs with his closer’s job taken.
That’s how good righty reliever Jacob Webb has been this season, that the fireballing right-hander Palencia steps back into the bullpen after a two-month absence recovering from elbow inflammation without claim to the ninth inning.
That doesn’t seem to be a problem, though, with Palencia saying Friday he’s open to whatever Craig Counsell and the team have in mind.
“I’m 100-percent open. I’m here to help my team,” Palencia said. “I’m open to every opportunity. I just want to pitch. I want to be that guy you can trust.”
The Cubs were able to trust Palencia to be eye-poppingly effective as their closer last year. He recorded 22 saves and finished the regular season with a 2.91 ERA before pitching six times in the postseason, nearly perfect in all but one outing.
With eyes on a deep October run, the Cubs would be thrilled to get that version of Palencia back, even if it’s not as the No. 1 reliever in the bullpen. Playoff pitching demands a lot more than just one guy.
“This is a player capable of pitching in big innings,” Counsell said. “We’ve got to get him back to being that pitcher.”
They’ll attempt to do it, first and foremost, by simply getting more innings under Palencia’s belt. He logged just 16 2/3 innings this season before returning Friday.
But the Cubs know what sort of weapon Palencia can be: one they’d like to unleash on opponents when the lights get their brightest.
“I’ve been growing all since last year’s playoffs,” Palencia said. “I feel like a new pitcher right now. I feel way more confident. I’ve been working a lot this offseason and during the season, during my recovery. It’s trying to be me. I don’t want to change anything. I want to keep attacking my hitters. I just want to be ‘The Gasolina,’ throwing heat.”
“The guy’s an electric arm,” lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar said. “We have a little over a month left until the biggest games of the year. Hopefully he can get himself into a groove and carry that into the postseason.”
Assad down again
Righty pitcher Javier Assad was sent to Triple-A Iowa on Friday, another tough break for a player with options.
Assad has been mostly excellent for the Cubs this season, with a 3.46 ERA in 22 trips to the mound as a starter and reliever. He’s been especially effective of late, with a 1.71 ERA since the start of July.
But having options means the team is able to shuttle him between the majors and minors and hang onto him, which they wouldn’t be able to do with other players; moving them off the roster means losing them.
“Guys like that are so much more valuable than people give them credit for,” Thielbar said of Assad. “He’s a guy that can go out there and give you a quality start and then, the next outing out of the bullpen, go out and save the entire bullpen for multiple innings. It’s not an easy role to fill.
“I feel bad for how much he’s had to jump around this year. On an old, veteran team like this, frankly, it kind of sucks being the guy with options sometimes. I feel bad for him, but he’s done a great job every time he’s come up here.”
Other moves
The Cubs added infielder Gabriel Arias to the active roster after claiming him on waivers Wednesday. They designated infielder Owen Miller for assignment to make room.
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