SAINT PAUL– The Twins are close to having one more pitcher in their depleted bullpen; Caleb Thielbar. But before he can return from the 15-day injured list, where he's been while recovering from a hamstring injury, he needs to complete his rehab assignment with the St. Paul Saints.

The goal for Thielbar in his outing Thursday, per Saints manager Toby Gardenhire, was to work up to 25 pitches and see how he would hold up with a high pitch count. 

“We wanted him to hit 25 pitches, that was the big thing,” Gardenhire said. “He can go out there and have quick innings. So if you say one inning and he throws nine pitches in it and he’s not getting the work he wants, so we want him to hit 25 pitches and get that work in.” 

His first opponent on the hill was 10-year MLB veteran David Peralta. Thielbar retired him on a pop-up to third baseman Tanner Morris, then retired the Cubs' fourth-ranked prospect (per Twins Daily sister site North Side Baseball) Owen Caissie, and No. 15 prospect B.J. Murray on 15 pitches. 

“It’s all just about how I feel, and I feel great,” Thielbar said following Thursday’s outing. “I think my pitches are where they need to be. Velo could maybe jump a little bit, but I am fine with the movement I got right now.”

With only 15 pitches thrown in one inning of work, Thielbar did something he hasn’t done in a Twins game since August 28, 2021: work a full second inning on the mound. 

Back on the mound for the seventh, Thielbar retired the first two batters he faced on a ground out and another strikeout, but Iowa catcher Ali Sanchez took a fastball inside deep to left field to get the Cubs back in the game.

“That’s just a guy jumping on a first pitch,” Thielbar admitted when asked about the home run. “I should have just started him out with something else. That’s usually what happens in a first pitch like that, but the process was good, got ahead of guys and that’s what they want to see [Twins Front Office and Management].” 

The final batter Thielbar faced was North Side Baseball’s No. 2 prospect, Pete Crow-Armstrong, whom he struck out on a sweeper in the dirt. Thielbar’s final line for the evening would be two innings, one hit, a run (on the Sanchez homer), and four strikeouts on 28 pitches, 21 landing for strikes. 

Fortunately for Thielbar, newly arrived Saints shortstop Diego Castillo hit a 3-run home run to put the Saints up 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth. It was a welcome development for Thielbar, but an especially important one for Castillo.

"I have been working for all this time and it felt really good," Castillo said. "There's still a lot of season coming and it feels great." 

One of the challenges Thielbar faced is the size of the strike zone, which can sometimes be more inconsistent than those of MLB umpires.

“You never know where that zone is sometimes. I felt like it was a little bit of a different zone today than it was the other day (Tuesday). But at least I was throwing it to the zone,” Thielbar said.

Thielbar said his left hamstring, which kept him on the injured list to start the season, is 100% healthy. It was the same hamstring he had nursed for some time in 2022 that landed him on the IL in the middle of the season. The only difference this time around was that it took a little longer to heal.

“It just took a little longer to heal, for whatever reason," said Thielbar, 37. "The other one didn’t take really long, so I was kind of expecting that, but then it turned into a lot longer than that. But I still have a lot of time left to have a good season. We’re in a good spot and it’ll be fun to get back to help the boys out a little bit,” said Thielbar.

During his rehab with the Saints Thielbar has worked a total of three innings, two hits, one run, one home run, one walk, five strikeouts, and the win in Thursday night’s game. 

For a Twins bullpen needing more depth, the southpaw Randolph Rocket (nickname per Twins Daily alumni Nash Walker), looks and feels like he'll be ready to return to the major-league club soon.