Cubs Prospect Palencia Fires Four Strong Innings

Chicago Cubs pitching prospect Daniel Palencia continued his solid season with High-A South Bend. The lefty, acquired in a 2021 trade that sent Andrew Chafin to the Oakland Athletics, tossed four shutout innings, striking out five and walking just one, allowing one hit. 

Though he has some of the best pure stuff in the organization, topping out at over 100 mph on his fastball and a slider that sits in the 90s, the encouraging development has come in the control department. After struggling initially with walks at the beginning of the season, Palencia has walked more than two batters in an outing only once since July 1. 

His strikeout-rate has not dissipated in the meanwhile, the 22-year-old has struck out over 31% of the batters he's faced and has a ground ball rate of 45.7%. The developmental strides Palencia has taken are encouraging. Whether his future is as a starter or a reliever, the Venezuela native has a high ceiling to work with. 

Triple-A: Iowa Cubs (61-71) at Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (70-61): L 16-0

• Every Iowa pitcher gave up at least three runs. 
• Iowa had just four hits and a Jared Young double was the only one that went for extra bases. 

Double-A: Tennessee Smokies (68-61) vs Pensacola Blue Wahoos (66-57): L 12-7

• Miguel Amaya hit his third home run of the season. The 23-year-old now has an OPS of .804 in Double-A.
• Cole Roederer also homered in a two-hit night and knocked in four of Tennessee's runs. 
• Chase Strumpf and Bryce Ball each had a pair of knocks. 

High-A: South Bend Cubs (72-58) at Cedar Rapid Kernels (73-57): W 4-1

• South Bend had 11 hits, none of which went for extra bases. 
• Jordan Nwogu continued his torrid stretch with three base hits. The outfielder has an OPS of .966 since Aug. 1.
• Owen Caissie was pulled after two plate appearances for Pete Crow-Armstrong who went 1-for-2 with a walk. 
• South Bend's bullpen duo of Joe Nahas and Riley Martin combined for five innings, one run, and eight strikeouts. 

Single-A: Myrtle Beach Pelicans (77-51) vs Carolina Mudcats (67-61): W 10-3

• Four different Pelicans had multiple hits, highlighted by Juan Mora and Josue Huma turning in 3-for-5 games. 
• Cubs 2022 15th-round pick hit his first Single-A home run. 
• Didier Vargas pitched five shutout innings and struck out eight and walked none. 

Transactions:

• Kervin Castro was officially outrighted to Triple-A Iowa.