Daniel Palencia
Venezuelan baseball player (born 2000)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Daniel Jesús Palencia (born February 5, 2000) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2023.
| Daniel Palencia | |||||||||||||||
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| Chicago Cubs – No. 48 | |||||||||||||||
| Pitcher | |||||||||||||||
| Born: February 5, 2000 San Carlos, Venezuela | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| July 4, 2023, for the Chicago Cubs | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through April 12, 2026) | |||||||||||||||
| Win–loss record | 7–10 | ||||||||||||||
| Earned run average | 3.67 | ||||||||||||||
| Strikeouts | 115 | ||||||||||||||
| Saves | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Career
Oakland Athletics
Palencia signed with the Oakland Athletics as an international free agent on February 13, 2020.[1] Palencia did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] He made his professional debut in 2021 with the Single–A Stockton Ports. In 6 starts for Stockton, he struggled to an 0–2 record and 6.91 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 14+1⁄3 innings pitched.[3]
Chicago Cubs
On July 26, 2021, Palencia, along with Greg Deichmann, was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Andrew Chafin.[4] He started his Cubs career pitching for the Single–A Myrtle Beach Pelicans. In 2022, Palencia played for the High–A South Bend Cubs, making 21 appearances (20 starts) and logging a 3.94 ERA with 98 strikeouts across 75+1⁄3 innings pitched.[5]
Palencia began the 2023 season with the Double–A Tennessee Smokies. In 18 games split between Tennessee and the Triple–A Iowa Cubs, he registered a 6.83 ERA with 36 strikeouts and 2 saves in 29 innings pitched. On July 4, 2023, Palencia was promoted to the major leagues for the first time, winning his debut in extra innings.[6] In 27 relief outings in his rookie campaign, he logged a 5–3 record and 4.45 ERA with 33 strikeouts across 28+1⁄3 innings pitched.
Palencia was optioned to Triple–A Iowa to begin the 2024 season.[7] He made 10 appearances for Chicago, struggling to an 0-1 record and 6.14 ERA with 16 strikeouts across 14+2⁄3 innings pitched. Palencia was again optioned to Triple-A Iowa to begin the 2025 season.[8]
International career
Palencia was the closer for the Venezuela during the team's 3-2 win over the United States, earning the 2026 World Baseball Classic championship title.[9]