Caleb

Thielbar

Thielbar returns to Chicago’s late-inning relief mix after missing just over three weeks recovering from a left hamstring strain. The 39-year-old southpaw has recorded a pair of saves to accompany a pristine 3.12 ERA and 11/5 K/BB ratio across 8 2/3 innings of work this season. He’ll help bridge the gap to hard-throwing young closer Daniel Palencia for the Cubs.

The 39-year-old southpaw is working his way back from a left hamstring strain. He’ll repeat the process again on Sunday and then progress to a full bullpen early next week. If all goes well, he could be cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment the following week. Barring any setbacks along the way, Thielbar should be able to return to the Cubs’ bullpen before the month of May is through.

The 39-year-old hurler suffered the injury during the ninth inning of Thursday’s outing against the Phillies. It’s an unfortunate break for Thielbar — and fantasy managers — as he had ascended to the closer’s role following the injury to Daniel Palencia. No word yet on how much time he’ll miss. Vince Velasquez was promoted from Triple-A Iowa to take his place in the Cubs’ bullpen.

Given how it looked on the field, that’s actually about the best news that the Cubs and fantasy managers could hear at the moment. Whether or not he’ll require a trip to the injured list will likely depend on how he responds on Friday. Ben Brown would likely be the next man up in the ninth inning if Thielbar is forced to miss any time.

Cubs broadcasters speculated it could be a hamstring the way he was holding it. Thielbar, working as the closer a night after Ben Brown went 37 pitches, gave up a game-tying homer to Adolis Garcia before suffering the injury. The Cubs eventually won in extra innings. If Thielbar misses time — and the Cubs remain committed to Brown as a multi-inning man — we could see a very desperate-feeling closer by committee on the north side.

Thielbar entered the game to chaos after Jacob Webb let the tying run reach the plate in the ninth inning. An error by Scott Kingery didn’t help, but Thielbar had to face lefty-masher Edmundo Sosa and then Trea Turner with the same in the balance and did so with ease. Since Daniel Palencia was surprisingly placed on the injured list late last week, Thielbar has two saves and a win in his only three appearances as the undisputed closer in Chicago.

Cubs manager Craig Counsell told reporters Palencia is responding well to treatment and there’s a chance he could be activated in two weeks. The 26-year-old closer hit the shelf last Friday with what was believed to be an oblique strain, but additional imaging revealed a shoulder issue. The fact that he’s going to be cleared to resume throwing and the club doesn’t believe it’s a major issue is reassuring. Caleb Thielbar is the favorite to close for the Cubs until his absence.

The Cubs scored in the bottom of the inning to prevail today. Thielbar seems like he might have some fantasy value while Daniel Palencia is out, but he likely will be down tomorrow after this. Ben Brown also might get another day after throwing 38 pitches over two innings on Saturday, so it’s hard to say who might be in line to save Monday’s game if the opportunity arises.

It’s Thielbar’s sixth career save in 10 seasons. Ben Brown set him up by allowing only an unearned run between the seventh and eighth. Brown is the guy with closer-type stuff in the Cubs pen right now, but the team obviously wants him to continue throwing multiple innings at a time. He still might wind up with the occasional save, but Thielbar and Jacob Webb are also going to factor in here.

He’ll get $4 million next season and then the $500,000 if his mutual option isn’t exercised (and it won’t be). Thielbar, who debuted with the Twins in 2013 and went four straight seasons from 2016-19 without making a major league appearance, will be making his highest salary ever at age 39. He had a 2.64 ERA and 25 holds last season in his first year with the Cubs.