After picking up his first save of the season on Tuesday night, Keegan Thompson was going through his normal postgame recovery work when his phone buzzed.

He had to rush to the hospital because his wife, Tate, was going into labor.

“And then all sudden he was kind of running out of here,” manager Craig Counsell said Saturday morning.

The Thompsons welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Cooper this week. After a few days on the paternity list, Thompson returned to the Cubs Saturday, with lefty reliever Luke Little being optioned to Iowa to make room on the active roster.

“He had mentioned that, that things were kind of going probably faster than he had anticipated,” Counsell added. “But he has a healthy baby boy and he’s back and ready to go and I think it obviously changes his perspective on life. So proud of him happy for him and big congratulations to him.”

Thompson’s return comes on the heels of a pair of encouraging outings from the 29-year-old. He struck out the side in Tuesday’s save and pitched a scoreless 9th inning the weekend prior against the Cardinals.

Those types of outings can help a reliever gain trust from a manager and could mean more leverage opportunities for the righty. At his best, Thompson can be a difference-maker in the bullpen. He can pitch in short innings like his last two games, or in a multi-inning role that can help save a bullpen.

The biggest question for him is recovery. His ability to pitch on short rest has hovered in his time as a reliever. But Tuesday’s save came on one day’s rest — he had a career 9.22 ERA on one day’s rest entering that game. It’s one game, but more outings like that can only benefit both Thompson and the Cubs’ reliever corps.

Little, 23, has a 4.35 ERA this season. He allowed a walk and picked up a strikeout in 1.2 innings of work in Friday’s loss to the Mets. Righty Porter Hodge was originally called up on Wednesday when Thompson landed on the paternity list. Hodge struck out 5 while allowing a hit and 2 walks in 2.1 innings on Friday.