Cubs closer Daniel Palencia is close to returning, but the team might not rush the right-hander back into his high-leverage role.
Palencia, who went on the injured list with left oblique strain on April 14, was scheduled to pitch in a rehab assignment for Triple-A Iowa on Friday night in St. Paul, Minnesota, manager Craig Counsell said before the Cubs’ 6-5 win over the Diamondbacks at Wrigley Field.
It may be a one-appearance tune-up for Palencia, who last took the mound on April 12 against Pittsburgh and earned a win by tossing a scoreless ninth as the Cubs rallied for a victory.
“Optimistic we can get him back here after that outing, if all things go well,” Counsell said.
Asked if Palencia will return immediately as the closer, Counsell said, “He’ll go back to getting outs. We’ve got to get Danny pitching. We want to get him pitching a lot. He’s got five innings right now.”
Palencia, who had 22 saves in a breakout 2025, made five appearances this season — each one inning — before getting hurt. The 26-year-old from Venezuela is 1-0 with one save, and hasn’t allowed a run so far in 2026 on three hits, while striking out five and walking two.
Left-hander reliever Caleb Thielbar and righty Hunter Harvey have been throwing and progressing toward a return as the Cubs pitching staff inches back after losing nine pitchers to injuries of all types since the start of spring.
Thielbar, who went out with a left hamstring strain last week, may be close to returning. Harvey, sidelined since April 9 with right triceps inflammation, is further off, according to Counsell.
Pain everywhere
The Cubs have lost pitchers to all type of injuries — not just damaged arms — and that’s what has President of Baseball Operations Jed Hoyer’s head spinning as much as the sheer number of casualties.
“We’ve had knees and back and lats and elbow and shoulders, so it’s not like we’ve had just consistently one injury or another,” Hoyer said to reporters before Friday’s game. “I think there’s some randomness in there as well.”
The Cubs pitching staff figures to solidify as many of their injured pitchers return, even if starter Cade Horton and reliever Porter Hodge will be lost for the season after Tommy John surgery.
“We obviously need to get healthy, and some of the guys we counted on to come up need to get healthy. I’m sure it’s going to be a summer of working through our internal guys, but external is going to be a real thing as we go on.”
Hoyer said the team has been trying to acquire arms via trade and has been “looking really consistently for small transactions.”
Anything major may not happen until later in the season.
“It’s also May 1 and it takes a awhile for those things to happen,” Hoyer said. “We’re going to have to wait and handle those things internally.”
Steele setback no surprise
Hoyer said he wasn’t surprised left-hander starter Justin Steele’s return from Tommy John surgery was pushed back until after the All-Star break. Originally the Cubs hoped Steele, their All-Star ace at 16-5 with a 3.06 ERA in a breakout 2023, might be back no later than June.
But more than a year after Steele underwent a second major surgery on his left elbow, new imaging performed last Tuesday showed a flexor strain that will delay the 30-year-old lefty’s comeback, Counsell said Tuesday.
“I don’t think it’s something unexpected,” Hoyer said Friday. “Candidly for everything to go perfectly was going to be a 60-day IL and late May, early June would have been like perfection. I don’t think we expect those things with second Tommy John and flexor surgery rehabs.”
