Craig Counsell has already named his closer for 2026 and to no one’s surprise his name is Daniel Palencia.

To no Chicago Cubs fan’s surprise, manager Craig Counsell has named his Opening Day closer already: Daniel Palencia.

According to Jesse Rogers of ESPN, on Wednesday, when he asked Counsell if Palencia would get the ninth inning if the regular season were starting now, he said yes.

Palencia, who had a breakout first half of the 2025 season, jumped into the closer’s role rather quickly, thanks to then-closer Ryan Pressly’s poor start to the season.

In his first 33 appearances of the season, Palencia posted a 1.57 ERA with 39 strikeouts, 11 walks, a 2.67 FIP, 12 saves, and six holds in 34.1 innings pitched.

Unfortunately, Palencia’s second half was not as dominant as his first. In 21 appearances post All-Star Break, the righty posted a 5.40 ERA with 5 walks, 22 strikeouts, 11 earned runs, and gave up a .301 batting average to opposing hitters in 18.1 innings pitched. He also gave up one run in 6-12 appearances in August, as well as a nasty five-run outing in September in which he did not record an out.

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Although Palencia’s second half was nothing to brag about for the young closer, he still proved to be a solid piece in a loaded Cubs’ bullpen in 2025. In 54 games, he collected 22 saves while posting a 2.91 ERA with 61 strikeouts, 16 walks, and a .224 opponent’s batting average in 52.2 innings pitched.

Of course, it’s early, being the first day of Spring Training, and I get it, Counsell has to say Palencia is the Opening Day closer right now. But Cubs fans need to see Palencia make the leap from being just a solid bullpen arm with a fast fastball to that dominant, elite, shut-down ninth-inning man fans think he can be.

If Palencia can continue to develop his slider and command his splitter, I would not be surprised to see the Venezuela native easily hold the closer role for all of 2026.