Caleb John Thielbar (born January 31, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Twins in 2013.

Career

Early career

Thielbar attended Randolph High School in

Randolph, Minnesota Randolph is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 436 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History A post office called Randolph has been in operation since 1886. The city took i ...

, and South Dakota State University, where he played college baseball for the South Dakota State Jackrabbits. The

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

selected Thielbar in the 18th round of the 2009 MLB draft. The Brewers released Thielbar in 2011, and he then pitched for the

St. Paul Saints The St. Paul Saints are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and have played their home games at CHS Field since 2015. They prev ...

of the American Association of Professional Baseball, a

independent baseball league An independent baseball league is a professional baseball organization in the United States or Canada that is not overseen by Major League Baseball and is outside the Minor League Baseball clubs affiliated to it. The Northern League and Frontie ...

Minnesota Twins

Thielbar signed a minor league deal with the

in August 2011. The Twins added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

after the 2012 season. On May 20, 2013, Twins promoted Thielbar to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut that day, pitching two innings. He became the first South Dakota State baseball player to reach MLB. He remained in the Twins bullpen for the remainder of the season, appearing in 49 games and pitching 46 innings with a 1.76 ERA and 0.826 WHIP. Thielbar began the 2014 season in the Twins bullpen, making 54 appearances in which he pitched and pitching to a 3.40 ERA. In 2015, he pitched five innings for the team. On July 31, 2015, he was designated for assignment after appearing in just 6 games.

San Diego Padres

On August 8, 2015, San Diego Padres claimed Thielbar off waivers from the Twins. The Padres assigned him to their Triple A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, for whom he pitched 12.1 innings, giving up only one earned run. He was designated for assignment on August 30.

St. Paul Saints and Miami Marlins

On March 29, 2016, Thielbar signed with the

of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball. He was 5-2 with four saves and a 2.39 ERA in 64 innings. On November 17, 2016, Thielbar signed a minor league deal with the

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

. He was released on March 31, 2017. On May 27, 2017, Thielbar signed with St. Paul for the rest of the 2017 season. He was 2-1 with one save and a 2.01 ERA in 22.1 innings in which he struck out 23 batters.

Detroit Tigers

On January 23, 2018, Thielbar signed a minor league deal with the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

. He split the season between the AA

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

and the AAA Toledo Mud Hens, and was a combined 7-1 with a 2.05 ERA in 57 innings. He resigned a minor league deal on October 30, 2018. He was assigned to AAA Toledo Mud Hens for the 2019 season, for whom he was 2-1 with four saves and a 3.30 ERA, as in 76.1 innings he struck out 92 batters.

Atlanta Braves

On August 30, 2019, Thielbar was traded to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for cash considerations. He pitched two scoreless innings and had one save for the team's AAA affiliate in Gwinnett. He became a free agent following the 2019 season. After the season, on October 10, he was selected for the United States national baseball team in the

2019 WBSC Premier 12 The 2019 WBSC Premier12 was an international baseball championship featuring the 12 highest-ranked national teams in the world, held by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC). It was the second WBSC Premier12 event. The championship w ...

. In 2019, Thielbar became the

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for

Augustana College Augustana College may refer to: *Augustana College (Illinois) *Augustana University Sioux Falls, South Dakota *Augustana University College, Alberta See also *Augustana Divinity School (Neuendettelsau) The Augustana-Hochschule Neuendettelsau is ...

Second stint with Minnesota Twins

On December 13, 2019, Thielbar signed a minor league deal with the

. He arranged to continue as pitching coach for Augustana. On August 3, 2020, the Twins selected Thielbar to the active roster. On August 4, he made his first appearance of the season and first in the majors in a little over four years. He finished the season with a 2.25 ERA in 17 games. Thielbar signed a one year, $650,000 contract for the 2021 season. On January 13, 2023, Thielbar agreed to a one-year, $2.4 million contract with the Twins, avoiding salary arbitration.

Personal life

Thielbar and his wife Carissa have one son together.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thielbar, Caleb 1987 births Living people Arizona League Brewers players Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings baseball coaches Baseball players from Minnesota El Paso Chihuahuas players Erie SeaWolves players Fort Myers Miracle players Gwinnett Stripers players Helena Brewers players Major League Baseball pitchers Minnesota Twins players New Britain Rock Cats players People from Northfield, Minnesota Peoria Javelinas players Rochester Red Wings players South Dakota State Jackrabbits baseball players St. Paul Saints players Toledo Mud Hens players United States national baseball team players Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players 2019 WBSC Premier12 players