If anyone was paying attention to the World Baseball Classic, they saw a pitching showcase in both the semis and the finals, but one pitcher in particular put on an absolute clinic — Chicago Cubs closer Daniel Palencia.
It was earlier this spring that Palencia was named the Cubs’ closer for the upcoming season after his 2025 performance, where he made saves in 22 of his 25 chances. He also finished 2025 with a sub-3.00 ERA while striking out 61 hitters in under 53 innings of work.
After the year he had, it wasn’t a shock that he was named their closer for 2026, and how well he did throughout the World Baseball Classic confirmed that it was the right call.
Cubs make right call to name Palencia closer
Palencia suited up for his home country of Venezuela and took home the WBC title, defeating the United States 3-2 in the final game, where Palencia was called upon in the final inning to make sure that the Venezuelans would wear gold.
It wasn’t just the final that Palencia’s team entrusted to him; he was also their closer in the semis against Italy, where he looked eerily similar. There wasn’t a run scored against him in that game either, and a pair of hitters were struck out as he sent his country to the finals.
Palencia threw a full inning in each game that he checked into, and the only time he didn’t post at least two strikeouts was against the Dominican Republic, where he retired one runner. The DR was the best offensive team in the tournament, scoring 51 runs in five games and averaging an OPS over 1.000.
Daniel Palencia was LIGHTS OUT in the WBC 🔥 pic.twitter.com/3CJB3agXDt
— Cubs Zone (@CubsZone) March 18, 2026
Going down to Palencia won’t be something the United States hangs its head over. He pitched five innings in this tournament and not only didn’t allow a run, but didn’t let a player tally a hit, which complements his nine strikeouts quite nicely.
This was a picture-perfect performance by Palencia, and the Cubs organization has to be pleased. They have always found pride in their relief staff, and Palencia has sure shown them that he can handle the pressure as their closer for 2026.
How the finals went down
Third baseman Alex Bregman and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong represented the home country, but they are wearing silver around their necks in the end, because of Palencia’s save in the ninth.
Palencia couldn’t have delivered a better performance. He faced Kyle Schwarber first and struck him out. Then it was on to Gunnar Henderson (who slugged .867 with a pair of homers) in the tournament, but it was a flyout on the second pitch.
The final batter the Cubs reliever faced was Roman Anthony, who also had a couple of long balls in the WBC, but wouldn’t find another as he was retired on a near 100 MPH fastball in the top left of the strike zone.
Three Hitters. Three Outs. 11 Pitches.
