Saints' Thielbar Attempting Baseball Comeback Where It All Started
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- It was the feel-good story of the season.
The hometown kid from tiny Randolph, Minn. – population 436 – was playing for the St. Paul Saints in the summer of 2011, when he was discovered and signed by the Twins.
Less than two years later, he was in the majors.
"It just came together so quick," Caleb Thielbar said. "Getting there was a great journey. It was a lot of fun."
The first time around, it was an underdog story: A small-town Minnesota kid made the big leagues – in Minnesota.
Now, Thielbar is trying to write a comeback story – back where it all began.
From Randolph to the Saints to the Twins, his rapid rise was the stuff of baseball movies. But Thielbar soon found an old baseball adage to have a lot of truth.
"They always say that getting there is the easy part," he said. "Staying there is tougher than getting there. And that's definitely true."
After two solid seasons with the Twins, Thielbar's third lasted just six games before he was sent back down to the minors. Before the year was even over, the Twins released him.
His fall back down was even faster than his rise. And Thielbar is strikingly blunt about it.
"I just wasn't pitching that good last year," he said. "And then when I went back down to Triple-A, I didn't exactly prove anything either. So. Walked too many guys, velocity fell, and they just didn't have a need for me anymore I guess."
This offseason, he didn't have even a single minor league offer.
"Nothing."
So he went back where it all began five years ago, signing again with the Saints. The plan is, basically, have it all happen again.
"Exactly," he said. "I've made a few changes this offseason, and.... hopefully just keep having some success."
Thielbar says his velocity is back up where it used to be and he's once again pitching the way he needs to. And when he says needs to, he means needs to.
"I know a lot of people would definitely disagree with me saying this," Thielbar said, "but I feel like if I don't end up making it back up at some point, I feel like the career is a failure, honestly.
"Once you get there and you compete against the best in the world, I mean, there's just nothing like it. It makes it all the tougher to live with being down here, and it makes you want to work all the harder to get back."
But here's the thing about failure that every baseball player knows. Baseball is a game of failure. Fail seven out of 10 times at the plate, you're a Hall of Famer. Bouncing back from failure is what the game is all about. And Thielbar believes he will.
"I know I can do it, and just getting that opportunity again is the biggest thing," he said. "And I know if I get the opportunity again that I can do it again."
