The Twins Almanac for July 8, 2025: Local Kids Made Good

[Matt Johnson]

Thielbar Gives Up First Run
In his 18th major league appearance, 26-year-old Randolph High School graduate Caleb Thielbar finally gave up his first run on this date in 2013—a home run to Ben Zobrist in a 7-4 Twins loss at Tampa Bay.

He finished his rookie season 3-2 with a 1.76 ERA and 0.83 WHIP over 48 appearances (46 innings pitched). Thielbar makes his return to Target Field in a new uniform tonight, as the Cubs come to town.

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Wallner Hits Historically Hard Homer
Forest Lake native Matt Wallner hit a two-run, game-tying home run measured off the bat at 116.7 MPH one year ago today. That's the second-hardest-hit Twins homer of the Statcast era. (What do you think the exit velo was when Harmon Killebrew hit his 522-foot bomb in 1967?)

This was game 26 of a team-record 28-game home run streak, which blew out of the water the previous team record of 18 games set just one year earlier. In the year since, Wallner has still been solid, overall, batting .234/.342/.484 in 445 plate appearances. He was the stalwart for much of the team's death spiral last summer and fall. Of late, though, he's been mired in the first real slump of his career.

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Miranda Named AL Player of the Week
After connecting for a hit in a ridiculous 12 straight at-bats, Jose Miranda was announced as American League Player of the Week on this date in 2024. What ever happened to that guy?

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