The Chicago Cubs have done an admirable job in assembling a team that is without glaring weakness ahead of this upcoming 2025 season. They’ve done that by addressing prior weaknesses, piece by piece.
Most recently, a somewhat under the radar free agent signing served as proof positive of that front office focus.
On New Year’s Eve, the Cubs signed Minnesota Twins left-handed reliever Caleb Thielbar to a one-year, $2.75 million contract. It was a move designed to address one distinct liability the team faced at the end of the 2024 campaign– a bullpen weakness versus left-handed hitters.
Chicago Cubs Addressing 2024 Bullpen Trouble
In the 2024 season, the Cubs’ bullpen faced challenges after trading Mark Leiter Jr. to the New York Yankees on July 30 and releasing Héctor Neris shortly thereafter. Both pitchers had been effective against left-handed batters, with Leiter holding them to a .241 weighted on-base average (wOBA) and Neris to a .307 wOBA. Their departures led to a noticeable decline in the bullpen’s performance against lefties, with the wOBA rising from .290 (eighth in MLB) before August to .333 (22nd in MLB) in the subsequent months.
[t/h to Matt Ostrowski of North Side Baseball for spotlighting the above numbers]
The Solutions, So Far
The 37-year-old Thielbar brings a wealth of experience from the Minnesota Twins, where he pitched parts of eight major league seasons between 2013 and 2024. Over his career, Thielbar has maintained a 3.38 ERA across 347 games, striking out 347 batters and issuing 107 walks over 320 innings. Notably, he has been particularly effective against left-handed hitters, limiting them to a .213 batting average and a .593 OPS.
In the 2024 season, Thielbar’s performance against lefties remained solid (while struggling somewhat with righties), holding them to a .244 average and a .653 OPS.
The Cubs’ bullpen, under manager Craig Counsell, lacked a dependable left-handed option following the departures of Leiter and Neris. While pitchers like Nate Pearson, Porter Hodge, and Tyson Miller performed admirably against lefties, they were often reserved for higher-leverage situations rather than specialized roles against left-handed batters. Luke Little, meanwhile, has faced challenges with control and an inability to stay healthy.
In addition to Thielbar, the Cubs had also claimed left-hander Rob Zastryzny off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers at the end of last season. Zastryzny, 32, had a solid 2024 season, albeit in limited action, and offers another left-handed option for the bullpen.
Front Office Action
The Cubs’ front office has been proactive in addressing bullpen depth over the years and has also shown itself adept at bringing in off-the-radar arms and reclamation projects that they flip into contributing bullpen assets (that, sometimes, they’re even able to trade at the deadline for quality prospects).
While someone like Thielbar is not the shutdown closer fans had hoped for (and may eventually get), he could very well be a solid stopgap for an identifiable weakness from 2024.
High-end free agent relievers like Tanner Scott, Jeff Hoffman, David Robertson, Carlos Estevez, and Kirby Yates remain on the market and there’s at least a marginal chance that the Cubs may end up picking one of these names up.
The team has also expressed interest in adding another quality starter for their rotation.
But, underneath the big, glamor additions, it’s clear that the Cubs have been adding the right smaller, less glitzy pieces to the puzzle.
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