The Curse of Wade Davis: Can Daniel Palencia Finally Break Cubs' Closer Drought In 2026?

[Paul Niemiec]

Image courtesy of © Dennis Wierzbicki-Imagn Images

The Chicago Cubs wrapped up their second home series of the season earlier this week, taking two of three from the Los Angeles Angels. This early season bout between interleague non-rivals has two points of trivial significance. The first being that the Angels were the Cubs’ opening series of the 2016 season, although that one was in Anaheim. Ten years later, the Cubs are back in a competitive window and have taken advantage of perennially rebuilding Angels squad to jump start 2026. 

The second point, one that I will be diving into here, has to do with the Angels’ DH: old friend Jorge Soler. The Cuban outfielder and designated hitter defected from Cuba in 2011 and made his debut for the Cubs as a 22-year-old in 2014. He was one of the first prospects called up that would eventually lead them to the 2016 World Series. He was also part of a massive trade following the 2016 season; just over a month after the championship was won, Soler was traded to the Kansas City Royals for their two-time All Star closer Wade Davis, who was hand-picked to replace Aroldis Chapman. 

At the time, Davis was coming off a year where he transitioned into being a full-time closer, saving 27 games and posting an elite-level ERA of 1.87. Though Davis was a one-year rental, the Cubs needed a proven, high-leverage arm at the back end of the bullpen to properly defend their title. Davis ended up being worth every penny during his lone season in Chicago. He saved 32 games with a 2.30 ERA, struck out 79 hitters in under 60 innings pitched, and made his third consecutive All-Star team. Most notably, he carried the team on his back for 2 1/3 innings to close out game 5 of the NLDS versus the Nationals. After the season, he signed a three-year contract with the Rockies, where he pitched about as well as you’d imagine for a Colorado reliever not named Brian Fuentes. 

Although the Cubs did not repeat as World Series champs in 2017, that season represents the last time the Cubs had a closer with 30 saves. It has been eight campaigns and counting that the Cubs have been looking for an anchor in the ninth inning. To give them credit, they signed frequently injured flamethrower Brandon Morrow to replace Davis, and he did save 22 games while battling injuries in 2018. In 2019, Craig Kimbrel came aboard in what would eventually become the last major free agent splash orchestrated by Theo Epstein. Kimbrel’s 23 saves in 2021 before his deadline trade to the White Sox represents the highest of any Cubs’ closer since Davis in 2017. His 3.22 ERA with the Cubs from 2019-2021 was a far cry from his time in Atlanta and Boston, but he’s still the only player to lead the Cubs in saves for more than one year since the Hector Rondon days. His tenure remains somewhat forgettable since it happened during the span that we saw the championship core eventually disband, but he was at least a reliable ninth-inning fireman.

After Kimbrel was traded and the Epstein era officially ended, we began to see the Jed Hoyer bargain-bin bullpen approach, which is still alive today. After the 2021 roster blow up, it did not make sense to pay for any difference-making relievers. Then. 37-year-old David Robertson joined the bullpen in 2022, saving 14 games, which lead the team, before being traded to the Phillies. That started the Cubs trend of bringing in a few different veterans with closing experience and hoping one of them can hold onto the job. Former Orioles closer Mychal Givens, as well as Chris Martin, were also in the bullpen that season. 

In 2023, former closer Brad Boxberger and former-top-prospect-turned-reliever Michael Fulmer were meant to compete for the closer job; instead, it ended up going to the first in-house candidate since Hector Rondon. Adbert Alzolay saved 22 games with a 2.67 ERA, and gave the fans a reason to be excited about the 2024 bullpen. The optimism lasted a few weeks, as Alzolay was booted from the closer role before the calendar even turned to May. Arm issues took him out for the rest of 2024 that he suffered in May, and he has not pitched in the majors since.

The 2024 Cubs saves leader ended up being veteran Hector Neris with 17, but there was another homegrown reliever making his presence felt: right-hander Porter Hodge. Hodge converted nine saves with a 1.88 ERA in 43 innings and was giving fans the same sense of optimism heading into last season. Instead, the injury bug bit yet again and he regressed to an ERA over 6.00 in only 33 innings. Hodge was never penciled in as the closer, however, as the Cubs made a trade with the Astros to acquire two-time All-Star Ryan Pressly. The problem with Pressly was that he was 36 years old and undeniably washed by the time he made his way to Chicago. After being pulled from the closer role in early May, he was eventually released before the trade deadline. He totaled five saves in his last season before retiring. 

Now, the buck seemingly has stopped here with the 2025 Cubs saves leader and 2026 WBC champion Daniel Palencia. Team Venezuela’s closer was a mid-range prospect for the Cubs after being acquired in the 2021 Andrew Chafin trade and pitched sparingly in the majors from 2023-2024. As aforementioned, he was not meant to be the closer last season, but Craig Counsell trusted Palencia’s triple-digit fastball enough to replace the out-of-gas Pressly.

For the 2025 postseason, he was used as the first reliever out of the pen, with Brad Keller closing out the games. With Keller on the Phillies, Palencia is the only reliever with any closing experience for 2026. Over the first six games of the season, he has no saves (hasn’t had an opportunity) but has not allowed a run in four innings pitched. In those appearances, he has shown more confidence and poise on the mound, which could be attributed to closing out the WBC for Venezuela’s upset win. That injury bug remains a pesky problem, but there's no denying that Palencia has the bravado to finally cross that 30-save threshold... assuming the Cubs can give him enough opportunities to get there.

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