Bullpen issues already have cropped up for the Chicago Cubs and White Sox, and they figure to be a focus for the foreseeable future.
Cubs closer Daniel Palencia is down with a left oblique strain, while Sox closer Seranthony Domínguez already had two blown saves through Friday.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell doesn’t have a set plan for the closer role while Palencia is on the 15-day injured list, so we’ll have to wait to see what he does on a daily basis. There’s no obvious replacement on the roster, but rookie left-hander Riley Martin, who averaged 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings over six minor-league seasons, appears to be in the mix.
On Saturday, Counsell turned to 39-year-old lefty Caleb Thielbar, who posted a perfect ninth inning for his sixth career save in a 4-2 win over the New York Mets at Wrigley Field.
“We’re going to really have to go about it in-game and think about it during the games,” Counsell said Friday. “It’s challenging. It’s going to be different for sure because guys will be in different spots than they’re accustomed to, but in the end we have to use this as a positive for some of these guys. We’re giving them exposure to good things. Riley is taking advantage of that opportunity and doing something with it.”
On the South Side, a potential closer of the future has been used as an opener four times, a role no one envisioned for Grant Taylor.
It’s a puzzling decision by manager Will Venable, assuming it’s his call and not a directive from senior pitching adviser Brian Bannister or general manager Chris Getz.
Domínguez’s blown saves make it even more apparent Taylor should be used to protect late leads, but Getz said he wants Taylor to pitch around 100 innings.
“Big-picture-wise, when you look at the amount of innings that we want Grant to have, there’s different ways of accomplishing that,” Getz said, “and if it makes sense to have him throw one or two innings at the front of the game or middle of the game or late in the game, we’re open to that.
“But the openers with Grant have gone pretty well. He’s looked very comfortable himself, and it’s led to a positive team outcome as well.”
The Sox on Saturday blew their fifth lead in the seventh inning or later, after an MLB-worst 50 blown-lead losses in 2025. If Taylor isn’t going to be used as a starter, he should be a high-leverage reliever and not an opener — unless getting him more innings is more important than winning games, big-picture-wise.
Waiting on Teel
The question of how the Sox should distribute playing time between their two talented, young catchers, Kyle Teel and Edgar Quero, was an offseason narrative. Would they be better off trading one and focusing on the other?
Teel has been rehabbing for a month since suffering a hamstring injury in the World Baseball Classic, giving Quero a chance to be the everyday starter. The switch hitter entered Saturday’s game against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif., batting 0-for-14 against left-handed pitching.
It’s a small sample size, but unless it improves, Teel probably should be the primary catcher when he returns with Quero as the backup.
Hype springs eternal
It was nice of Chicago Sports Network to have a Noah Schultz Cam to follow the rookie around during his major-league debut last week. But hopefully it’s a one-off and not something CHSN plans to replicate for the debuts of Tanner McDougal, Hagen Smith and Braden Montgomery.
There’s already enough pressure on these kids to live up to the Sox hype. A camera recording their every move just adds to it.
Pick to click
Watching “Untold: Jail Blazers,” the excellent Netflix documentary on the troubled Portland Trail Blazers teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s, I wondered how Rasheed Wallace was made out to be a national villain because of his penchant for committing technical fouls, while the media mostly portray the Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green as an emotional guy who just likes to compete. The only difference I can see is the Warriors won four rings with superior talent surrounding Green, while Wallace and the Blazers always folded in the postseason.
At least we won’t have to see Green screaming at officials and opponents in the playoffs this year after the Phoenix Suns ousted the Warriors in Friday’s play-in game. Fittingly, Green was ejected again.
Not ready for prime time
Amazon’s Prime Video losing its feed in overtime of the Charlotte Hornets-Miami Heat play-in game was unacceptable for a streaming network that deems itself big time. LeBron James posted about the snafu on X: “Tell me the game didn’t just cut off?!!? Am I trippin?? WTH.”
The money grab by the NBA, which signed an 11-year deal with Prime Video, isn’t worth it if the network can’t telecast a game without technical difficulties.
Let Azzi be Azzi
It’s hard to comprehend why Azzi Fudd, the No. 1 pick by Dallas in the WNBA draft, wasn’t allowed to answer a question about her relationship with Paige Bueckers, her former UConn teammate with whom she’s now reunited on the Wings.
A team PR person interrupted and said they would not be discussing players’ “personal lives,” even though Bueckers already had revealed their relationship. Fudd is a 23-year-old woman, and if she didn’t want to discuss it, she could’ve said so herself. The WNBA needs to let its players think for themselves.
Curse of the ‘L’ flag?
The famous Billy Goat Curse ended in 2016 with the Cubs winning the World Series. Is a “Curse of the ‘L’ Flag” now brewing in Milwaukee?
Brewers reliever Trevor Megill, an ex-Cub, got an “L” flag from the stands after Milwaukee’s series-clinching win over the Cubs last October in the National League Division Series, then wore it in the team photo. The Brewers were swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, and in his first eight games of 2026, Megill posted a 10.29 ERA and was booed last week by Brewers fans.
Instant karma? Stay tuned.
