Biography
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.
Career
Oakland Athletics
Palencia signed with the Oakland Athletics as an international free agent on February 13, 2020. Palencia did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 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.
Chicago Cubs
On July 26, 2021, Palencia, along with Greg Deichmann, was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Andrew Chafin. 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.
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. 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. 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.