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As the MLB trade deadline passed on Jul. 30, the Minnesota Twins made headlines for their inactivity. The front office essentially stood pat, despite the apparent need to bolster their bullpen, particularly with a lefthander. Many fans wondered how the team would address its late-game pitching challenges as the season progressed. However, one player’s performance was trending in the right direction. That player is Caleb Thielbar.
A Season of Ups and Downs
Thielbar struggled through much of the 2024 campaign before recently showing some signs of improvement. After dealing with an early-season hamstring injury, Thielbar attempted to rediscover the pitching arsenal that previously made him one of the team’s best left-handed relievers.
Thielbar, now 37, isn’t new to the big leagues. His career began with the Twins in 2013 and has been a tale of perseverance and adaptation. After a few years bouncing between the majors and minors and even spending time in independent baseball, Thielbar rejoined the Twins in 2020, where he found moderate success. Over the next few seasons, he developed into a reliable power arm at the back of the bullpen. But 2024 has been a different story.
Thielbar's significant issues this season are tied to his command. His walk rate jumped from a 5.0 BB% last season to 9.5 BB% in 2024. His strikeout rate has dropped by nearly 5%, as batters can lay off some of his offerings and get ahead in the count. Opponents are barreling up the ball against him at the highest rate of his career.
The curveball, which has always been Thielbar’s go-to pitch, has seen an uptick in effectiveness this year. Opponents are hitting just .120 against the pitch, and it has become a trusted weapon for getting out of tough jams. Batters have registered a 45.3 Whiff% versus his curveball, a solid jump from last season. His fastball has caused the most issues. In 2023, he held batters to a .197 BA against his four-seamer, which has jumped above .300 during the current campaign.
Thielbar has implemented some strategic changes to make his fastball more effective. Our John Foley did a great job breaking down some of those adjustments earlier this week, for TD Caretakers. Compared to last year, he's dropped the usage of his four-seamer by 10 percentage points (52% to 42%), while going to his sweeper and curveball far more frequently. Over the past couple months, he's also using fastballs more regularly on his arm side and up in the zone. This location helps his curveball to be more effective, because batters see the pitches coming in on a similar plane and have a more difficult time adjusting to the offspeed offering. Since that adjustment, he has a 3.34 FIP with a .203 batting average allowed.
Filling the Void
When the trade deadline passed without the Twins acquiring any bullpen help, it was clear that the front office had confidence in their existing roster--particularly in Thielbar. While it was a gamble, given his inconsistency earlier in the season, Thielbar has shown the ability to make in-season adjustments. He must take on a more prominent role, providing the stability and reliability the Twins desperately needed from the left side.
Tuesday night, though, Rocco Baldelli looked right past Thielbar's name on his list of available relievers, electing to use Steven Okert for a pocket of the Padres lineup he hoped would be favorable for a southpaw. Thielbar had pitched Monday night, but threw just nine pitches, and he'd been off the previous two days. If he ranked above Okert on the manager's mental depth chart for the bullpen, he would have been the natural choice to start the sadly fateful eighth inning.
It might not be that simple, though. Thielbar has made only three appearances on zero days' rest this season, and none since Jun. 12. It seems as though the coaching staff and front office feel uneasy using the aging lefty on back-to-back days, at least enough to erase whatever difference they see in expected performance between him and Okert. For now, that's a limiting factor in the team's bullpen usage, but maybe as the games get increasingly important, they should revisit it.
Has Thielbar convinced the team that he can be a reliable left-handed option in late-inning situations? Leave a comment and start the discussion.
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