Cubs Sign LHP Caleb Thielbar

It’s the perfect night to have a happy hour, so the Cubs had perfect timing in announcing a one-year deal with lefty reliever Caleb Thielbar. The 37-year-old has bounced around between several organizations and spent some time in indy ball, but all of his big-league experience has come with the Twins. It hasn’t been linear, though. After making 103 appearances in his first two seasons, Thielbar entered the DFA wormhole and didn’t come out for five years.

He went from the Twins to the Padres to the St. Paul Saints to the Tigers to the Braves and then back to the Twins. That doesn’t include time with the Brewers and Saints prior to breaking through for the first time in 2013. After making it back to the bigs in the pandemic season, Thielbar has made 121 appearances over the last four seasons.

He’s put double-digit K/9 marks in each of those campaigns and his walk rate has been acceptable other than a spike this past season. Thielbar has a 93 mph fastball with an 82 mph sweeper and looping 74 mph curve that he delivers from an over-the-top arm slot. His splits were not super pronounced in 2024 but have been very traditional over the course of his career, giving the Cubs a dependable lefty arm who can work situationally in more medium-leverage appearances.

While there’s not much to be excited about, this is the kind of move that adds value by giving Craig Counsell a dude to fill a specific role the Cubs have typically assigned by committee or default in the past.