The Orioles announced they’ve activated lefty reliever Danny Coulombe from the 60-day injured list. Baltimore placed Burch Smith on the 15-day IL, retroactive to September 18, to open a spot in the bullpen. Smith was diagnosed with a right adductor (groin) strain. The O’s already had a trio of openings on the 40-man roster, which sits at 38 following Coulombe’s reinstatement.
It’s a potentially big boost to Brandon Hyde’s bullpen with a little more than a week before the postseason. Coulombe has been out since the middle of June with an elbow injury that necessitated surgery to remove bone chips. Prior to the injury, the 34-year-old had been one of Hyde’s most trusted relievers. He’d rewarded that faith with 26 innings of 2.42 ERA ball behind a 30.4% strikeout percentage and a tiny 3.3% walk rate.
This was shaping up as a second straight excellent season for Coulombe. The O’s brought him aboard with little fanfare in Spring Training 2023. Coulombe had been in camp with the Twins on a minor league contract. Minnesota didn’t want to carry him on the MLB roster, so Baltimore acquired him for cash considerations and added him to their Opening Day club. He tossed 51 1/3 innings with a 2.81 earned run average and similarly strong strikeout (27.6%) and walk (5.7%) numbers. Coulombe owns a 2.68 mark over 77 1/3 frames in an O’s uniform.
The O’s have had a subpar second half, dropping four games back of the Yankees in the process. The bullpen has played a role in that. Baltimore relievers rank 24th in the majors with a 4.69 ERA since the All-Star Break. They’ve had a generally strong strikeout and walk profile but given up a few too many home runs. Coulombe has done a nice job avoiding the longball throughout his career, allowing less than one home run per nine innings. He joins Keegan Akin, Cionel Pérez and Gregory Soto as left-handed options in the late innings.
In time for the playoffs?
MLB teams are now like NFL and NBA teams. Working their rosters down to the last day of the season preparing for the playoffs – which are all that matter.
I have no idea what this means or you are trying to say here. Are you inferring that the Os are manipulating their roster via fake injuries or something?
Coulombe was always going to be part of the postseason roster, presuming health.
Per my usual in the AL East.. Boston can’t/refuses to win it, go Orioles. Always had a kind of liking for them charasmatic players managers (palmer) and then of course manager Weaver. A storied franchise easy to pull for which has never spent much salary wise, but won more times than many which have.
Weaver was the best. He used radar guns before they became the norm and some say he was the first to use a computer to compile statistical player analysis.
Jim Palmer once said, “I learned a lot from Earl Weaver. The first thing I learned was that he didn’t know a thing about pitching.”
I think Weaver somehow got ejected from two games in his career before they even started!
Probably with umpire Ron Luciano, both those 2 really disliked each other and it got so bad the AL stopped putting Luciano’s crew in any series involving the O’s. Luciano was a charcter himself. Saw him once years after he retired, by then not the big man he once was, but still very funny.
O’s had a cast of different announcers over the years of vast difference.. The knowledgeable and (to me) great Gary Thorne, canned for never learned why. The dunce Mel proctor in the late 80’s. The always acted and talked like he was perenially high John lowenstein (same time as Proctor) and my favorite was believe 1st name was Bob.. last name Miller, did interviews 80’s and early 90’s. used to pitch for them i their early days. He was bang on when O’s traded Boddiker same day to Boston and that “kid” Curt Schilling was more than a throw in in the deal. how prophetic he was. Took time, but how right he was. He knew pitching and was always doing interviews before they came into really being in the old days. big dish tv days for those who remember that time.
You kind of glossed over the early Angelos years, where they did spend on a lot of guys, some of pretty questionable character, in and out of congressional hearings.
It would be nice for the O’s to briefly return to those free spending days now that they’ve got tons of young talent to work with.
Coulombe quietly been a really dang good RP the last two years. Will be a great help to a team in need of late inning stability
Too little too late.
Elias did a dreadful job with the bullpen, but the overall play had been shameful, too. Too many flashbacks to 2018.
Friend, if YOU’RE happy with the bullpen choices before and during the season, you go right ahead.
Most people are not.
The Orioles bullpen is a mystery, time to bring in Columbe. He’s the man for the job