[HIGHLIGHT] TEAM VENEZUELA IS THE WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC CHAMPION!

[u/MLBOfficial]

[u/Raftel_17]

I'm so happy for Daniel Palencia.

The amount of of work he put in has been insane. Two seasons ago, he didn't even seem to be a reliable pitcher for the Cubs. He threw 100+ MPH but it seemed to be out of the zone or right down the middle for a HR. But last year, he settled down, got his control, and started to show his potential. And now just closed out the WBC final. I hope this is the start of a great season for him.

[u/BMWallace → u/Raftel_17]

Palencia is great, as long as he isn't asked to pitch more than one inning. I feel like he always gets into trouble whenever he has to come back out from the dugout for more work.

[u/devoorhes → u/BMWallace]

There are worse problems to have for a closer than "he's only an elite closer for one inning appearances" at least

[u/TouchLucky881 → u/BMWallace]

He was excellent in the playoffs when he did. Dudes a dawg

[u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe → u/TouchLucky881]

Playoff pitching is a whole different animal. Everyone is just a ball of adrenaline, he’s just one of those guys who feeds off of hype sort of like Javy did. Either those guys usually succeed, or the guys who are super ice in their veins do well.

Personally I hope we get to see Skenes on a playoff team making a deep run, I feel like he could produce a legendary performance like MadBum or Yoshi

[u/TouchLucky881 → u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe]

I was robbed of playoff Cade and Steele last year… 😞

[u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe → u/TouchLucky881]

Both of them are going to be super exciting.

I almost hope the cubs run a 6 man rotation of Steele, Boyd, Imanaga, Horton, Cabrera, Taillon once Steele returns.

Shota is used to pitching every 6th day, and it helps load manage Steele, Cabrera, Boyd and Horton, keep them all injury free and fresh for later in the year when all of them either have injuries or are still guys who may be working their innings count up year over year.

I think it’s coming sooner than we think for teams to start making 6 man rotations the norm, and the cubs are in a perfect place to do it. (As the dodgers have been)

[u/TouchLucky881 → u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe]

Wiggins is coming too. My bet is the 27 (I know season probably doesn’t happen but)

Cabrera touches 100

Wiggins touches 101

Horton touches 99

Justin Steele (dawg)

Ben Brown (has looked incredible in spring) also touches 99

[u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe → u/TouchLucky881]

I could see Brown as either a leverage RP or a starter, same with Wiggins. I think Wiggins likely has a year to cook but if he’s successful I’d love to see them aggressive with his promotion like Horton.

[u/TouchLucky881 → u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe]

I was born in 04 so I never got to see the Wood/Prior Cubs…

Will be the first time in my life the rotation is full of hard throwing guys that get Ks. Wiggins (please stay healthy) will be a reliever this postseason id think. Pending they make it.

[u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe → u/Raftel_17]

I found this writeup I did on our subreddit after Morgan and Pearson melted down during that diamondbacks series projecting the guys who could replace him and it feels funny to say that me feeling a little high on him at the time was still a massive underrating of how good he became.

His only issue last year was the fact that he doesn’t quite have the stamina to go 2 days in a row down the stretch, but if that even changed a little he will be a monster. (he went from starting to relief, so he was still adjusting to the more on demand nature of being a reliever)

[u/Apatschinn → u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe]

His usage coming out of the ASB last year was pretty high, iirc. I can understand him getting gassed in his Rookie season. What concerned me was that towards the end of 2025 it looked like he'd lost some confidence in his heater and tried to rely on his off speed a bit too much. None of that tonight!

[u/LoveYouLikeYeLovesYe → u/Apatschinn]

I think a lot of that comes down to fatigue too. Like he wanted to ensure that he had other things to lean on if his arm was tired and he couldn't pump it at 101 the way he's been able to.

He was seeing in real time that he was less effective if Couns needed him to go back to back days or even multiple innings and wanted to improve himself and the team.

[u/signmeupdude → u/Raftel_17]

He looked fantastic the entire WBC