The Twins squeezed very little value from their left-handed pitching in 2024. And yet, while it wasn't a team strength, it's hard to call it a weakness that cost them much in the standings. That's because the Twins bullpen as a whole fared among the best in the league, even if the lefties weren't as effective as the righties. Lefties simply didn't pitch enough to be that dangerous.
Twins lefties finished 22nd in innings pitched (123 2/3), last in ERA (5.75) and 27th in fWAR (negative-0.4, one of seven teams in the negatives). Caleb Thielbar, Steven Okert and Kody Funderburk did most of the work. Only one of them remains, Funderburk, and he's at Triple-A in St. Paul.
Kudos to right-handers Jorge Alcalá, Cole Sands, Griffin Jax, Jhoan Duran and friends, but it's not ideal to have zero effective left-handed pitchers in the bullpen. That's where Danny Coulombe comes into the picture. Back into the picture, you might say.
Coulombe, who turned 35 in October, pitched for the Twins from 2020 through most of Spring Training in 2023 before his contract was sold to the Baltimore Orioles. Now, thanks to $3 million in free agency, he's back.
The Twins had a spartan offseason most of the way amid a payroll rollback, along with ownership putting the club for sale. They waited until right before camp to dip into the free-agent market, but Coulombe should be a big improvement from the left side.
Coming back to a place that he knew "definitely was a selling feature," Coulombe told Puckett's Pond. "They knew who I am and, you know, I knew what they were about, and I knew they were a great organization."
Over the past two seasons, Coulombe owns a 2.56 ERA in 81 innings combined, with 60 hits allowed and a 90-17 K-BB ratio. He's also better than league average for his career limiting home runs. Best of all, he's got a long history of getting out lefties without being vulnerable to right-handed batters. He's the type that manager Rocco Baldelli could use against a lefty-hitting cleanup hitter without being too concerned about the righty thumpers hitting around them.
The major negative with Coulombe (cover your ears) has been durability. He's pitched just 274 2/3 innings in his career. His career high is 51 2/3, done in 2017, and he reached 51 1/3 in 2023. His best with the Twins, in 2021, was 34 1/3 innings.
Surgery at mid-season in 2024 removed bone chips, and he was limited to 29 2/3 innings with the Orioles, though Coulombe did return at the end to pitch in the playoffs. He was effective despite having lost nearly 3 mph from his fastball, possibly a reason the Orioles declined his option. They sure weren't afraid to use Coulombe in a big moment when they otherwise would have been short-handed.
"I came back, and it was only 2 1/2 months off injury, and it was a pretty quick ramp up," Coulombe said. "I think there's difference between healthy and available. I would say that I was available, but I wasn't quite myself yet. They knew that, and they they apologized. So I just tried to do what I could do to help.
"I felt like I owed it to them. I wanted to be out there to help the team win. They needed it."
Coulombe is throwing his sinker about 89.5 mpg this spring, which is about 1 mph quicker than he was in October. If that turns out to be the zenith of his velocity in 2024, he will manage.
A 17h-round pick of the Dodgers in 2008, Coulombe first established himself consistently in the majors with Oakland from 2016-18. He posted a 4.10 ERA with 119 strikeouts and 50 walks with 15 home runs allowed in 123 innings.
Coulombe says he used to throw 92,93 mph but remembers one time with the A's, against the Mariners, he got it all the way to 94.5.
"It was against Mike Zunino," Coulombe said. "I remember it because it was real gas for me."
He's a better pitcher now, displaying more command and less vulnerability to the long ball. Coulombe reached the majors and has been able to stay because of traits other than a blazing fastball. He throws a five-pitch mix, including a cutter, sweeper and curve. Velocity helps, but...
"Pitching, for me, is just creating margin for air, right?" Coulombe said. "That's all it is. Velocity does create more margin for error, because hitters have to think about that: 'You know, I have to get up for the fastball.' But there's other ways to create margin for error. It's not all velocity."
Coulombe recalled in his final days with the Twins the first time that something started to click with his stuff after tinkering. Not long after, when the Orioles brought him in, they immediately used him in higher leverage against one of the league's top sluggers at Fenway Park.
"I remember the first day with the Orioles, they had me warming up against the Red Sox and I had [Rafael] Devers. We were up three runs," Coulombe said.
Alex Verdugo struck out to lead off the fifth inning, Devers flied to left and, after Justin Turner was hit by a pitch (nobody's perfect), Masataka Yoshida grounded to first unassisted.
"I remember being, like, 'Whoa, this is different.' That was the first time," Coulombe said, "I remember feeling 'Man, I can be a guy here.'"
He's going to be a guy for the Twins, the second time around. A left-handed guy, but that's almost incidental. If the Twins need him in a big spot, chances are Coulombe is going to be there for them.