HOUSTON – Daniel Palencia tried out for so many Major League Baseball organizations as an amateur free agent in Venezuela, he lost count of how many teams rejected him. One snub sticks out, though, for the Chicago Cubs’ closer.
Palencia, who has hit 102-mph with his fastball in the majors, was 16 years old when a scout for the Detroit Tigers turned him away with a jarring prediction.
“I don’t remember them all, but I do remember one (tryout) that left a scar,” the hard-throwing right-hander said in Spanish recently. “It was a scout who told me that I wouldn’t ever throw harder than 90-mph.”
That prediction proved ridiculous, especially because he was already throwing 90-mph. The native of San Carlos, Venezuela, kept trying out long past an age when most Latin American amateur free agents would have quit.
Through it all, he remained confident with the help of his parents Maria del Carmen Silva and Damaso Palencia, and his trainer Jimmy Romero. Daniel Palencia was 20 years old by the time the Oakland Athletics took a chance on him in 2020.
Perseverance pays off
By industry standards, he was considered old. Most top Latin American amateurs sign at 16 years old. By 18 years old, they are considered more suspects than prospects. He waited through the COVID pandemic before starting his career in 2021. Then he practically sprinted to the majors.
“It was a bit difficult,” he says. “At 20 years old the majority of scouts don’t want to see you. I think that was part of what I needed to be aware of to keep advancing. Nothing held me back. I never paid attention to the people who would tell me that I couldn’t.
“I simply just needed to believe in myself and have support from my parents. And I was always willing to do what the others weren’t willing to do.”
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The 5-foot-11, 160-pounder didn’t last long in the A’s organization. Oakland traded him to the Cubs on July 26, 2021 along with Greg Deichmann for Andrew Chafin. Less than two years later, he debuted in the majors on July 4, 2023.
Now he’s closing games for the NL Central leaders despite a difficult sophomore season last year. Cubs manager Craig Counsell readily concedes, though, that he didn’t plan for Palencia to close when the team went to spring training.
Daniel Palencia bounces back
“I think what we saw in spring was Daniel is going to be an important part of this team,” Counsell said. “I think we expected development and thought we were going to get development, and he’s delivered that. Part of it was the experience.
“His experience wasn’t great last year for him. He didn’t pitch great. He ran into some problems and let his emotions affect him. Maybe the up-and-down nature of being optionable affected him, which is understandable. This year he’s kinda said this next pitch is being present and made it simple for him.”
The mental fortitude that helped Palencia keep his baseball hopes alive as an amateur may have helped him bounce back after the Cubs demoted him to the Class AAA Iowa Cubs last season. Palencia was 0-1 with a 6.14 ERA over 10 outings and 14 2/3 innings in the majors last year while walking 12 (7.4 walks per nine innings).
At Iowa, he was 2-1 with a 4.85 ERA through 39 innings over 22 outings. He walked 22 and struck out 68. Palencia’s control has been much better this season. Despite an 0-2 record this season, he has an impressive 1.86 ERA with eight saves over 29 innings through 27 outings. He still remembers all those early snubs and the Detroit scout.
“I felt bad, obviously,” he says. “I knew I had more there. All I needed was an opportunity. It’s all part of life. All those things taught me and made me who I am today.”