Caleb Thielbar's exile from his home state lasted only 10 days.
The Randolph High School product was called up to the Twins on Friday, rejoining the team he had been a part of from May 20, 2013 until the end of spring training last month.
"In the short term, his experience is a good thing," manager Paul Molitor said of the decision to promote the 28-year-old lefthander, who was called upon to pitch the 10th inning Friday night. "Obviously, we've seen Caleb enough the last couple of years to know that, as far as work ethic and preparation and knowing who you might face in a given inning, he's got a good plan."
He's got good timing, too. When Molitor and Terry Ryan decided to temporarily replace the injured Brian Duensing, they had six relievers at Class AAA Rochester with ERAs of 2.70 or below to choose from, four of whom had not allowed a run this season. Thielbar was one of the latter, and with his experience, plus the fact that the Twins are playing Cleveland team full of lefthanded hitters, this weekend, he was an easy choice.
"We had a few options," Molitor said, but the Twins decided they wanted to keep three lefties in the bullpen. When he put up a 5.73 ERA in 11 Grapefruit League innings, keeping Thielbar on the roster "didn't work coming out of spring training, but we tell everybody: Be ready."
Thielbar did, and though he gave up three hits and a walk to the nine batters he has faced in Class AAA Rochester this season, none scored. Now he will move into his old situational role with the Twins, Molitor said, with another lefthanded call-up, Aaron Thompson, sliding into Duensing's late-inning role.
Rare time off
The last time Duensing couldn't pitch due to injury, he was wearing a Nebraska jersey and had a new ligament in his elbow. He's avoided the disabled list during his 11-year pro career, so "I don't really know what to do with myself," he said. "It's going to feel weird."
Better than feeling sore, which is how the muscle in his rib cage felt while pitching this week. Duensing said the intercostal muscle bothered him Monday, then "pinched" him during his ninth-inning stint Thursday. "It was [sore] throughout the outing. During the second-to-last pitch, I felt [the pinch]," the lefthanded reliever said. "I knew it was more serious than I thought it was originally."
