The Twins Have Their Own Adam Thielen

[Ted Schwerzler]

Remember when you would turn on a Minnesota Vikings game and couldn’t escape the note that Adam Thielen was “One of Us.” A Detroit Lakes native, his story from undrafted out of Minnesota State-Mankato to Pro Bowl wide receiver became boilerplate material. It shouldn’t be lost that the Twins have their own version, and Caleb Thielbar is still overlooked.

 

Image courtesy of Matt Marton (Thiebar), USA Today Sports, Kyle Terada (Thielen), USA TODAY Sports

Born in Northfield, Minnesota, Caleb Thielbar calls the same state home as Thielen does. When Thielbar went to South Dakota State, the Jackrabbits were a Division II program. They transitioned to Division I during his final two seasons there. Playing in Brookings, it’s not at all surprising that the lefty went relatively overlooked, but by this point in his Major League career, the story should be equally inspiring.

Both Thielen and Thielbar beat the odds when considering how small their towns are. Detroit Lakes does boast a population of nearly 10,000 people, while Thielbar's Randolph claims less than 500. Thielen didn't pick up a football scholarship offer from Mankato until the summer following his senior year, and it took Thielbar multiple stints with the independent version of the Saints before he was discovered again.

The Milwaukee Brewers took Thielbar in the 18th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft. The only player drafted in that round that year to make a positive impact in the majors is Marcus Stroman, although he didn't sign, went to college at Duke and was drafted in the first round three years later as a pitcher rather than a shortstop. Given the rounds and depth brought in through the draft, Thielbar’s positioning did not at all help his chances for success.

It wasn’t until 2011 that Thielbar made his way to the Twins organization, and he didn’t make it to the big leagues for another two years after that. As a 26-year-old reliever, the lefty appeared on May 20 against the Atlanta Braves and threw two shutout innings with a trio of strikeouts. Thielbar posted a 1.76 ERA that season, but the Twins were so bad that his performance was largely overlooked.

A year later, in 2014, the strikeouts slipped and so did the overall performance. By 2015, Thielbar was out of affiliated baseball altogether. Using two strong stints with the St. Paul Saints, Thielbar provided the Twins with opportunity to scout him close to home. Boasting sub 3.00 ERA's in 2016 and 2017, he parlayed the success into minor league deals with the Detroit Tigers and Atlanta Braves in 2018 and 2019.

Resurfacing during the 2020 covid-shortened season with Minnesota, Thielbar is showcased in a wonderful piece by The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. Having all but given up hope on professional baseball after Atlanta did not call him up in 2019, Thielbar decided to move on to coaching in the Division II ranks with Augustana. Conveniently for this narrative, the South Dakota school is nicknamed the Vikings, and they play in the same conference as Thielen’s Mavericks. Fortunately for the Twins, Brad Steil and the team's pro scouts saw his numbers and improved "stuff" and convinced Thielbar to give it one more try. 

Despite having been away from the game for a time, Thielbar posted a 2.25 ERA across 20 innings on a team that hosted a home playoff series. He was still a crafty lefty, but now he brought a new strikeout sprinkle to his game and tallied a career best 9.9 K/9. Fast forward to where we are now, and Thielbar enters 2023 with a career-high $2.4 million salary, and being able to lay claim as one of baseball’s most underrated relievers.

For Rocco Baldelli, Thielbar will be one of just two assumed lefties in the pen. Alongside second-year arm Jovani Moran, Thielbar can be expected to provide plenty of high-leverage innings. His 2.42 FIP tells a better story of his 2022 than the 3.49 ERA, and it’s really the career best 12.1 K/9 that deserves excitement. Having dropped his walk rate each of the past two years, and continuing to be stingy with homers, Thielbar is as good of a weapon as Minnesota has in the pen.

Although Major League Baseball rules now mandate a pitcher must face three batters, and Thielbar is better against lefties, he is relatively matchup proof. Last season he held right-handed hitters to a .226 average as opposed to .225 for lefties. Righties did get him for a .634 OPS as opposed to just .575 against lefties, but he doesn’t strike fear in a manager when needing to get big outs.

For a bullpen that has a fireballer like Jhoan Duran at the back, it’s incredible that someone like Thielbar can bring such a successful different look. Thielbar will never throw triple-digits, and his 92.9 mph average last season was a career-best. Still, generating soft contact along with swings and misses is something he’s done by knowing exactly what he brings to the table.

Among Minnesota’s arbitration decisions this winter, Thielbar had to be one of the easiest. He’s now a 36-year-old, and it’s been a decade since he debuted. The journey to get here was an interesting one, but he’s now a key cog for the Twins bullpen in 2023.

It’s improbable we see Thielbar named to an All-Star team or given national recognition, but make no mistake, Thielbar is every bit the success story that the Vikings have experienced with Adam Thielen. Sometimes the hometown hero is Joe Mauer, Paul Molitor, or Dave Winfield. Other times, it’s the grinder that has to do everything it takes in order to make their own opportunities.

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[EGFTShaw]

Very nice piece.  It takes an incredible amount of heart to keep at it when you're not given a chance to succeed.

 

[PatPfund]

I like Caleb, and love his story. But...

...he didn't have a great season last year; he had a phenomenal 2nd half of the season. You have a tweet with the post-July stats, but in April (really awful), May (very good), and June (pretty bad), Caleb pitched 29 innings, walked 13, gave up 26 hits, and 17 runs for a mediocre 1.34 WHIP, and an ERA over 5. It was clear either he or Duffey had to go to make room for new pitching, and the Twins definitely made the right call, but it wasn't obvious.

Short of injury, Thielbar might be the most 'counted on' Twin to falter big time; he operates on a thin margin, and age comes for all athletes at some point.

(But I'm hoping 'that point' isn't this year.)

[Althebum82]

Nice comparison.  An additional element to the story is the fact that while born in nearby Northfield, Thielbar grew up and played high school ball in tiny Randolph, and played for the Saints before they became the AAA home for the Twins.  He is a real testimony to the belief in himself while continuing to improve his skills and talents.  As a reliever he will never win twenty games, but if he can extend his career long enough a comparison to the small town beginning of Rothsay's Dave Goltz accomplishments could also be made.

[JD-TWINS]

Hope for his sake he holds up again this year!! Nice story & glad he got some pay-off!

He’s a big piece for our Pen in ‘23

[mikelink45]

I love his story.  With Pagan and Lopez in the BP he is far from the big question mark.  I would love to see him continue to succeed. 

[Beast]

Really cool story.

Its hard has hell to get a leg up in any sport when you’re coming from rural Minnesota (Northfield is borderline, but we’ll give it to him).  The internet has changed that a bit, but still very difficult to get noticed.  Then, tack on a small college in the middle of nowhere, independent leagues, etc.  Talk about beating the odds.

It takes a set of stones to stick with a dream like that.  When you have a family to feed, it’s got to be nearly impossible to turn down the safe road of selling insurance, teaching gym, etc. That’s said without knowing his history.  Maybe he was born into a very wealthy family or has a successful spouse that allows some flexibility there.  No idea.  

[h2oface]

My call is he tanks horribly this year. Last year was it. I wish him, and his performance for the team's sake, well, but I think the jig is up.

[Tk33]

Rah rah rabbits!  Go Jacks!

Seriously......you should see the field he played on.  We had a better venue at our high school in Brookings than the Jack's field at the time.  And that is meant as a serious insult to State's baseball facilities at the time because the HS/Legion field was nothing fancy.

[Bigfork Twins Guy]

Congrats to Caleb on a nice career and for working diligently to accomplish it.

That said, I'd still prefer that the FO pick up a LH reliever just in case he is headed down the back side of his performance curve.

[goulik]

I get the hometown hero comparison to Thielen since both names start with the same letters but I would think CJ Ham is a stronger comparison. Sure, Duluth is bigger than Detroit Lakes but Mankato is a bigger school than Augastana and CJ’s career has been more of a grinder like Thielbar than Thielen

[JoeMauerBurnerAccount]

Thielbar and Thielen are not comparable at all. Just because they are from Minnesota? One has been to 2 Pro Bowls was considered a top player at his position and the other had a good second half once, I guess. Same thing sure. 

[JoeMauerBurnerAccount]

9 minutes ago, JoeMauerBurnerAccount said:

Thielbar and Thielen are not comparable at all. Just because they are from Minnesota? One has been to 2 Pro Bowls was considered a top player at his position and the other had a good second half once, I guess. Same thing sure. 

Also Thielen wasn't even on the radar, had to go to a tryout for the general public to get on the team. Thielbar was drafted. People knew about him...

[VivaBomboRivera!]

I thie what you did here...