Palencia has been pitching with a heavy heart recently after a tragic accident involving Baltimore Orioles minor-leaguer Luis Guevara, his friend and fellow Venezuelan. Guevara, 19, died after a jet ski crash June 15 in Florida. To honor his memory, Palencia wrote Guevara’s name and a ribbon image on his Cubs batting practice and game caps.
“It’s been hard. You never expect that, especially when he’s younger like that,” Palencia told the Tribune. “But that’s part of the life. I’m just trying to keep my my head up and just trying to do my best work for him. All this year is going to be for him.”
Palencia, 25, worked out in the offseason with Guevara, an infielder who was three years into his pro career, and had known him for years. Guevara’s hometown of Tinaco is roughly 10 minutes from San Carlos, where Palencia is from. Every year, all the professional baseball players from that area of Venezuela play a game in Palencia’s town.
“To be honest, I thought he was going to be the second Ronald Acuña Jr.,” Palencia said. “He had a lot of energy. He liked to play. He worked hard, so he was just excited. He was a funny guy. He was always making jokes about me and everything. It was great.”
Cubs reliever Daniel Palencia’s cap, with a handwritten ribbon and the name of Luis Guevara, a 19-year-old minor-league infielder in the Orioles organization who died after a jet ski crash June 15, 2025, in Florida.
As Palencia deals with losing his friend, he’s in the midst of his best season in Year 3 in the majors. The Cubs trusted him to take over the closer role when Porter Hodge went on the injured list in mid-May, and he has thrived.
Since blowing his first save opportunity May 19 in Miami, Palencia has posted a 1.35 ERA while going 8-for-8 in save chances. In that stretch of 13 appearances, he struck out 13 and walked only three.
One of his most impressive moments came Thursday in St. Louis when he recovered from putting the first two batters on in the bottom of the ninth. He struck out the next three to finish off the Cubs’ 3-0 win.
Within Palencia’s evolution over the last three years, his mental fortitude and learning how to take situations pitch to pitch has helped him find success beyond his ability to consistently throw 100 mph.
“The interesting thing about the closer’s position is that he’s been out there, what, 10 times maybe — there’s still things left to experience,” manager Craig Counsell said Saturday. “I thought the game in St Louis was something new. … You’ve got to really buckle down.
“And there’s a little emotion in the game with the hit by pitch and things like that, and those are just learning experiences and he’s handling them really well.”