{"id":12277,"date":"2025-05-09T03:06:11","date_gmt":"2025-05-09T03:06:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/12277\/"},"modified":"2025-05-09T03:06:11","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T03:06:11","slug":"danny-coulombe-former-oriole-is-thriving-in-twins-bullpen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/12277\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny Coulombe: Former Oriole is thriving in Twins\u2019 bullpen"},"content":{"rendered":"

MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 In quick succession, Danny Coulombe set the top of Baltimore\u2019s lineup down in order Tuesday night. The left-handed reliever struck out Cedric Mullins and Gunnar Henderson, then retired Adley Rutschman by forcing a ground ball.<\/p>\n

The next night, Coulombe entered in a one-run game with runners on the corners. He struck out Mullins again to end the threat.<\/p>\n

The Orioles have watched Coulombe do that against the heart of opposing lineups long enough to know what the southpaw is capable of, but being on the other side of it? That\u2019s more difficult, especially knowing Coulombe could\u2019ve remained in Baltimore over the winter. <\/p>\n

General manager Mike Elias declined to pick up the $4 million club option in Coulombe\u2019s contract. Although Elias said at the general managers meetings in November that Baltimore would remain in touch, Coulombe signed with the Minnesota Twins. <\/p>\n

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Since signing as a free agent, Coulombe has been faultless. He has extended his scoreless-inning run this season to 14 1\/3 innings. As a result, there is good reason to second-guess the decision to bid Coulombe adieu.<\/p>\n

Coulombe is mainly looking ahead to his next appearance, his next chance to impress. But, when asked about the Orioles\u2019 decision not to exercise his contract option, the 35-year-old said, \u201cwe were a little bit surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, you know, everything happens for a reason,\u201d Coulombe added, \u201cand I\u2019m happy where I\u2019m at today.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has good reason to be happy, considering his performances this year. In 16 games, Coulombe has walked one batter and struck out 15. He\u2019s yet to give up a run \u2014 a streak that extends 24 1\/3 innings, back to last year in Baltimore. His WHIP is a minuscule 0.49.<\/p>\n

At the general managers meetings, Elias told MLB.com that option decisions come down to \u201cprice point on a salary, and you\u2019re looking at putting together a budget and a plan for the offseason that encompasses the entirety of your roster.\u201d <\/p>\n

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When Coulombe heard from Elias the Orioles weren\u2019t exercising his option, the pitcher said Elias \u201ctold me it was a tough decision and we mulled over this one for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

In public, Elias commended the impact Coulombe had in Baltimore and said \u201cwe\u2019re going to want to continue talking to him throughout the free agency, as long as that lasts.\u201d But Coulombe received a one-year, $3 million deal from Minnesota, a club with which he pitched from 2020 to 2022.<\/p>\n

\"\"Danny Coulombe posted a 2.56 ERA in 94 appearances over two seasons with the Orioles. (Ulysses Mu\u00f1oz\/The Baltimore Banner)<\/p>\n

The familiarity aspect was a draw. Coulombe\u2019s family already knew and liked Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they came calling,\u201d Coulombe said, \u201cI was pretty excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Orioles, though, are feeling the loss.<\/p>\n

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When asked about Coulombe, manager Brandon Hyde lauded the clubhouse presence the reliever brought each day before detailing the strong performances on the mound.<\/p>\n

\u201cDanny got some of the biggest outs for us those couple years,\u201d Hyde said. \u201cJust pitched with a ton of guts, and he doesn\u2019t have the flashiest stuff or the highest spin rate, but he does have the ability to get guys out with multiple pitches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coulombe fondly remembers one of his early appearances for the Orioles in 2023. He joined shortly before opening day in a cash-considerations trade with the Twins, and he quickly became a high-leverage arm.<\/p>\n

As Coulombe warmed up in the eighth inning of a tight game against the Boston Red Sox, he remembers thinking, \u201cWhoa, this is different.\u201d He was preparing to face Rafael Devers in a critical juncture of the game. He struck Devers out.<\/p>\n

That was just the start of two quality years in the bullpen for Baltimore. Coulombe may be surprised he\u2019s not still there, but he doesn\u2019t bear a grudge toward the place that helped him flourish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just forever thankful to Baltimore,\u201d Coulombe said. \u201cThey\u2019re really the first ones to really give me the opportunity to pitch in leverage, so I\u2019ve got nothing bad to say about really anyone over there. I really appreciate Mike and Hyder for putting me in positions to succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MINNEAPOLIS \u2014 In quick succession, Danny Coulombe set the top of Baltimore\u2019s lineup down in order Tuesday night.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[47,5,1404,822,60,3190,4,125,594,148],"class_list":{"0":"post-12277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baltimore-orioles","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-camden-yards","11":"tag-minnesota","12":"tag-minnesota-twins","13":"tag-minnesotatwins","14":"tag-mlb","15":"tag-orioles","16":"tag-tigers","17":"tag-twins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114475668874789851","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}