AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

The Rundown: Palencia Closes WBC Win, Mo Baller Hammers Two Tanks, Conforto Decision Looming, First Spidey Trailer

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanMarch 18, 2026

Cubs fans may have felt somewhat conflicted last night when Daniel Palencia took the mound to secure Venezuela’s win over the US in the WBC. While I found myself disappointed in Team USA’s flat performance, which was in keeping with their play throughout the event, I was very fired up to see Palencia slicing and dicing against the best hitters on the planet. Team Venezuela’s emotional response to the victory was also stirring, and I suspect the same would not have been true if the result had been reversed.

The American-Americans, not to be confused with those populating most of Italy’s underdog squad (among others), saw this as a business trip. It’s as though they had already won and were taking a company-sponsored to participate in a coronation ceremony. They couldn’t be bothered to shake hands with teammates or to pay attention to mundane details like pool tie-breakers. The military service stuff with Paul Skenes and Griffin Jax was nice, but it quickly became overwrought.

Perplexing managerial decisions and poor play eventually led to their undoing at the hands of a team that played with real passion. I’m not willing to go so far as to say that Team USA didn’t have a fire in its collective belly, but those guys sure didn’t seem to be having nearly as much fun as their counterparts. That’s what happens when your win-or-bust mentality calcifies you both mentally and physically.

I’ve said it before, but this wasn’t the 1992 Dream Team by any stretch. The talent was there, but everything felt a little disjointed. That stood in stark contrast to their competitors, each of whom appeared to be enjoying the experience far more.

“The union,” Eugenio Suárez told Ken Rosenthal when asked what made their team so special. “We are together the whole time. We’re not just teammates, we’re all family. This team is awesome. We are family here! That’s why we play with passion, with love. Because we feel that jersey, we feel our country in front of us. That’s why this is a lot for us players, as people, as human beings, and as Venezuelans.

“Now we are the champions.”

You don’t have to look any further than Palencia displaying obvious emotion before firing a 100 mph fastball right by Roman Anthony for the final out. He almost didn’t get a chance to author that signature moment, as the Cubs had called manager Omar Lopez and asked that he not throw the closer in back-to-back games. Lopez gained the team’s stamp of approval by agreeing to only use Palencia if it was a save opportunity.

The 26-year-old flamethrower, who was once told by a scout that he didn’t have a future in the game, needed only 11 pitches to record three outs against three left-handed batters. Not that such a small sample should be leaned on too heavily, but Palencia had pretty marked splits last season. While righties slashed just .210/.239/.267 with a .225 wOBA and one homer with two walks against him, lefties went .242/.340/.473 with a .345 wOBA, 14 walks, and four homers.

This tournament was a coming-out party for a young man who could very well end up pushing his mark of 23 career saves much higher.

Setting aside the results, what I take away from this WBC and all that have come before is the depth of joy we can find in baseball. The Olympics are cool and all, and it’s great that baseball will be back for LA28, but that’s a much smaller tournament taking place amid so many other competitions. The WBC is a celebration of baseball and baseball alone, bringing together players from all over the world to share a common love for a silly game that requires players to hit a round ball with a round stick.

I don’t want to see it moved to the All-Star Break, and I don’t care if Team USA never wins again. Maybe if they loosen up a bit. That said, I would like USA Baseball to take the selection of its coaching staff a little more seriously. On to the regular season.

Ballesteros Drops Bombs

While one young Cub was setting fire to Team USA’s best-laid plans, another was launching projectiles onto the Sloan Park berm. Moisés Ballesteros, who should serve as the Cubs’ primary DH, hit two homers in their win over the Angels last night. The first left the bat at 108.2 mph and landed 441 feet away. The next went 423 feet at 103.9 mph.

It doesn’t appear as though his late start to the spring has had any ill effects.

Conforto Can Opt Out on Saturday

As an Article XX(B) free agent who signed a minor league deal at least 10 days before the start of the regular season, Michael Conforto is granted a series of uniform opt-out dates. That right is typically granted to veterans with at least six years of MLB service time who finished the previous season on a big league roster or the IL. The first of those dates falls five days before the start of the regular season, which comes this Saturday.

If he chooses to trigger that opt-out, the Cubs have 48 hours to either add him to the 40-man roster or grant him free agency. It felt as though Conforto had the inside track to a bench spot from the moment he signed, and Tyler Austin‘s knee surgery means the Cubs can easily create a roster spot with a 60-day IL designation. The same could be said for Justin Steele, who may remain out until June as he works back from elbow surgery.

Austin going to the 60-day is a foregone conclusion, so I’d expect the Cubs to make that official by Saturday. There is no such urgency with Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick, the other veteran outfielders vying for a spot, as neither has the same opt-out rights. Well, unless something was specified in their respective deals.

There are over 30 other Article XX(b) free agents scattered across the league, including former Cubs greats Ryan Brasier, Craig Kimbrel, Andrew Chafin, and Mike Tauchman. Andrew McCutchen, Rhys Hoskins, Liam Hendriks, Adam Frazier, and Paul DeJong, Walker Buehler, Orlando Arcia, and Randal Grichuk are among that group as well, so there will be a lot of procedural moves taking place this weekend.

More News and Notes

  • Seiya Suzuki has been diagnosed with a minor sprain of his right posterior cruciate ligament, but will continue to participate in baseball activities to whatever extent he can. The Cubs will monitor him over the next few days to see whether he’ll need to open the season on the IL.
  • A day after Cade Horton carved with 10 strikeouts, Shota Imanaga got 25 whiffs with eight Ks over 4.2 innings. The fastball sat just over 92 mph with his typical ride, which is a great sign.
  • Horton and Pete Crow-Armstrong were named to MLB’s All-Under-25 Team by The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt. Ballesteros earned an honorable mention at catcher and Matt Shaw was noted among the infielders.
  • The White Sox have set their rotation: Shane Smith, Sean Burke, Erick Fedde, Anthony Kay, and Davis Martin.
  • You know how the ABS was supposed to simplify things and eliminate framing as an advantage for catchers? While that’s still sorta true, having an automated zone that adjusts properly to each hitter has created extra work as backstops are forced to study each player’s zone. There were a lot of bad-faith arguments about the game-winning pitch from Mason Miller the other day being too close to take, with some incorrectly saying that the ball crossed just below Geraldo Perdomo‘s knee.
  • Though factually correct, the strike zone isn’t based on a player’s knee following his stride; it’s when he’s in his stance. Of the 322 called third strikes over the last two WBCs, that was the lowest by two inches. The best hitters are willing to take strikes that they know they can’t handle well, but this one was not close to being a strike. Until it was.
  • In any case, catchers now need to understand how to set up in order to help their pitchers attack each individual hitter’s zone. That’s in addition to knowing the tendencies and weaknesses of those hitters while cross-referencing them with their pitchers’ repertoires.
  • IU football coach Curt Cignetti will drive the honorary pace car at this year’s Indianapolis 500, and he’s going to get a massive pop from the hundreds of thousands of attendees.

Trailer Time

The first trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day just dropped, giving us a look at the latest chapter in the third iteration of this franchise. Four years after the events of No Way Home, which gave us three versions of Peter Parker on screen at the same time, Tom Holland’s character continues his crime-fighting in a world that has forgotten who he is. He’ll have to battle personal issues along with “one of the most powerful threats he has ever faced” in this lead-up to Avengers: Doomsday.

We don’t get much revelation in terms of plot, though Jon Bernthal’s Punisher makes an early appearance. We also see Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Michael Mando as Scorpion. Marvin Jones III is credited as Tombstone and Sadie Sink of Stranger Things fame — who is seen as the mysterious character in a coat and hood — is playing an as-yet-unrevealed role. The current speculation is that she’s playing the MCU’s version of Jean Grey, which makes sense with an X-Men reboot in the works.

Photo of Evan Altman Evan AltmanMarch 18, 2026
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