Danny Coulombe

Twins Place Zebby Matthews On 15-Day IL, Reinstate Danny Coulombe

By Mark Polishuk | June 8, 2025 at 2:21pm CDT

2:21PM: Matthews has been feeling some shoulder soreness for a couple of weeks, and some increased discomfort after the start on Wednesday led to the team’s decision to put him on the injured list. “It’s not something we’re too concerned with,” Matthews told the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Bobby Nightengale and other reporters. “It seems to be something we can respond to, hopefully, pretty quick….It’s mainly during the last part of the throw is when I feel it. Everything else, it feels pretty good. We’re just trying to get it to loosen up and get back to feeling normal.”

9:18AM: The Twins announced that right-hander Zebby Matthews has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 5) due to a strain in Matthews’ throwing shoulder. In the corresponding move, Minnesota activated left-hander Danny Coulombe from the 15-day IL.

The unwelcome news on Matthews come out of nowhere, as there wasn’t any indication that the 25-year-old was hurting coming off his best start of the season. Matthews limited the A’s to one run on four hits and three walks over five innings in the Twins’ 6-1 victory on June 4. Even that solid outing lowered Matthews’ ERA to only 5.21 over 19 total innings this season, though advanced metrics (such as a 3.31 SIERA, 30.1% strikeout rate, and a .375 BABIP) indicate that Matthews has deserved better than his inflated ERA.

It looked like Matthews had performed well enough to keep his spot in the Twins’ rotation, though Pablo Lopez’s extended absence might have gotten Matthews more starts out of sheer necessity. With Matthews himself now out of action, the Twins will have to dig deeper into their depth chart to cover two rotation spots. David Festa had been installed into Lopez’s place, and Simeon Woods Richardson will likely be recalled from Triple-A to take over for Matthews.

Neither Festa or Woods Richardson have pitched well this season, so there will be even more pressure on Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, and Chris Paddack to continue carrying the rotation. It is fair to wonder if Minnesota might look to the waiver wire or try to swing a low-level trade to add some veteran depth to the pitching mix, though adding a more prominent arm on the trade market isn’t likely to become a reality until closer to the deadline. The severity of Matthews’ shoulder strain is also naturally a factor, as the urgency for pitching depth would diminish if Matthews is able to return before the end of the month.

The bullpen will at least get a boost with the return of Coulombe, who last pitched on May 14 before an extensor strain in his left forearm sent the veteran reliever to the IL. Coulombe has yet to allow an earned run over 16 2/3 innings and 19 appearances for Minnesota this season, and he has an outstanding 3.3% walk rate and 31.7% strikeout rate to go along with that spotless ERA. The Twins had been operating without a left-hander in their bullpen prior to Coulombe’s activation, as Kody Funderburk was optioned to Triple-A on Friday.

In other Twins bullpen news, Michael Tonkin restarted his minor league rehab assignment and tossed a scoreless inning for Triple-A Saint Paul last night. Tonkin has yet to pitch in the majors this season due to a mild rotator cuff strain suffered during Spring Training, and his previous rehab assignment was halted a month ago due to biceps tendinitis.

Twins Place Danny Coulombe On 15-Day IL, Call Up Zebby Matthews

By Mark Polishuk | May 18, 2025 at 9:04am CDT

The Twins announced four roster moves this morning, including the news that left-hander Danny Coulombe was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a left forearm extensor strain. Between Coulombe’s placement and yesterday’s placement of Byron Buxton on the seven-day concussion IL, Minnesota filled those two open roster spots by (as expected) selecting the contract of outfielder Carson McCusker and calling up right-hander Zebby Matthews from Triple-A. Matthews will get the start today in the Twins’ game against the Brewers. To open up a 40-man roster spot for McCusker, infielder Luke Keaschall was shifted from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.

Coulombe hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, so it would seem that the southpaw’s forearm issue may have been lingering for a few days. As scary as any forearm-related injury seems, Coulombe might miss only a few weeks or a relatively short amount of time if he has only suffered a minor strain. More will be known about Coulombe’s situation or recovery timeline will likely be revealed when manager Rocco Baldelli briefs the media later today.

Coulombe underwent a Tommy John surgery way back in 2011 during his college days at Texas Tech, and he had a more recent elbow issue just last June when he had bone spurs removed. That latter procedure cost Coulombe almost three and a half months of the 2024 season, though he was able to make it back to the Orioles’ roster for a few appearances in late September.

Baltimore still opted to decline its $4MM club option on Coulombe for the 2025 season, and the 35-year-old then entered free agency and signed a one-year, $3MM pact with Minnesota. That deal has proven to be one of the more underrated moves of the entire offseason, as Coulombe has been nothing short of excellent — the lefty has yet to allow a run over his 16 2/3 innings, and he has a stellar 31.7% strikeout rate and 3.3% walk rate. A perfect strand rate and a .205 BABIP hint at some regression, but even those metrics boost Coulombe’s SIERA to only a still-superb 2.18.

This great year has now unfortunately been interrupted by injury, and Kody Funderburk is now the only healthy left-hander in Minnesota’s bullpen. Anthony Misiewicz, Richard Lovelady, and Brady Feigl are at Triple-A if the Twins wanted to add another southpaw, but none of those pitchers are on the 40-man roster. The Twins’ bullpen has been so good this season that they may be able to get by with just one lefty if Coulombe doesn’t miss too much time, but obviously losing Coulombe is a hit to the club’s relief corps.

Simeon Woods Richardson was optioned to Triple-A earlier this week, opening up a spot in Minnesota’s rotation and giving Matthews another crack in the big leagues. One of the Twins’ top pitching prospects, Matthews made his MLB debut in 2024 to mixed results, as he has a 6.69 ERA over 37 2/3 innings. Despite some respectable secondary numbers (24.3% strikeout rate, 6.2% walk rate), Matthews was undone by the long ball, as he surrendered 11 home runs in his brief time on the Twins’ roster.

Matthews had only 19 innings of Triple-A experience in 2024, but he has looked good during a slightly more extended stint in St. Paul this year. Matthews has a 1.93 ERA, 28.1K%, and 6.7BB% in 32 2/3 Triple-A frames in 2025, with just a lone home run allowed. Getting anything remotely close to this production would be a huge help for the Twins this year and it would reinforce Matthews’ status as a future rotation building block going forward.

Speaking of highly-touted prospects, Keaschall had an 1.065 OPS over his first 26 career Major League plate appearances before he suffered a fractured forearm after being hit by a pitch. Keaschall was put onto the 15-day IL at the end of April and it was just a matter of time before he was shifted to the 60-day, as the infielder is expected to need multiple months to recover.

Twins Designate Ronny Henriquez For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | February 7, 2025 at 2:00pm CDT

The Twins announced that right-hander Ronny Henriquez has been designated for assignment. That opens a roster spot for the signings of outfielder Harrison Bader and left-hander Danny Coulombe, which are now official. The club opened another roster spot yesterday by trading utility player Michael Helman to the Cardinals.

Henriquez, 25 in June, has spent most of the past three years on the club’s roster. He came up as a Rangers prospect, getting added to that club’s 40-man roster in November of 2021, keeping him out of that year’s Rule 5 draft. Texas traded him to the Twins a few months later alongside infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the March 2022 deal to acquire catcher Mitch Garver. Henriquez spent 2022 and 2023 as a depth arm but was non-tendered after the latter of those two seasons. He re-signed on a minor league deal going into 2024 and was back on the 40-man in late April.

Over those three years, he didn’t get much major league action. He has 31 innings pitched at this point with a 2.90 earned run average in that small sample. His 18.2% strikeout rate is subpar but his 6.1% walk rate and 53.1% ground ball rate are both strong.

His numbers in the minors have been somewhat similar. A starter earlier in his career, the Twins have mostly kept him in a multi-inning relief role for the past two seasons. In 2024, he logged 55 innings over 34 Triple-A appearances with a 3.44 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 53.8% ground ball rate.

Despite the decent results, Henriquez was likely running out of time on the roster. He exhausted his final option year in 2024, meaning the Twins would no longer be able to move him to Triple-A and back with such fluidity. As such, he got bumped off the roster today. Minnesota will now have a week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next, whether that’s a trade or some fate on waivers. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would have to take place in the next five days.

Though the Twins couldn’t find room for him, it’s possible another club is willing to grab him. As recently as June, Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs ranked Henriquez as the #27 prospect in the Twins’ system, suggesting he had a future as a decent middle reliever. If some club is willing to give him a roster spot now, he has less than a year of service time, meaning he comes with a possible six seasons of club control.

Twins Sign Danny Coulombe

By Steve Adams | February 7, 2025 at 1:40pm CDT

February 7: The Twins have now officially announced the Coulombe signing.

February 4, 9:49am: It’s a one-year major league deal that comes with a $3MM guarantee, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star-Tribune. Minnesota has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move when the signing is finalized.

8:07am: The Twins have agreed to a deal with free agent left-hander Danny Coulombe, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The ALIGND Sports client’s contract is pending the completion of a physical. It’ll be the veteran reliever’s second stint in Minnesota.

Coulombe, 35, was with the Twins from 2020-22 and pitched quite well during that stretch. In 49 1/3 innings, he logged a 2.92 ERA while punching out 22% of opponents against a 9.3% walk rate. Those rate stats were both a bit worse than average, but Coulombe did a good job keeping the ball in the yard and avoiding hard contact during his original run in Minneapolis.

Despite that strong run and a big spring in 2023 (nine shutout innings, 13 strikeouts, four walks), the Twins somewhat surprisingly let Coulombe go to the Orioles. He’d been back in camp on a minor league contract, and rather than select him to the roster at the end of spring training, the Twins allowed Coulombe to use an upward mobility clause that granted him the ability to opt out of the contract if another club was willing to place him on the 40-man roster. Minnesota sent Coulombe to the O’s in exchange for cash, and the lefty gave Baltimore two excellent years in manager Brandon Hyde’s bullpen.

From 2023-24, Coulombe tossed 81 innings with a 2.56 earned run average. He showed greatly improved rate stats, fanning 28.4% of batters faced versus a tiny 5.4% walk rate. With the Orioles, Coulombe added a cutter, scaled back his usage of a four-seamer, scrapped his changeup and ramped up the usage of his sinker. It was a new-look pitch selection that’s helped him generate more whiffs and far more grounders. With a sinker sitting just under 92 mph, an 86 mph cutter and a 79 mph knuckle curve, Coulombe isn’t the prototypical power-armed reliever most clubs covet in today’s game, but the results in recent years speak for themselves.

Were it not for some elbow troubles last summer, there’s a good chance Coulombe might still be with Baltimore. The lefty underwent surgery in June to remove bone spurs from his left elbow — a procedure that shelved him until late September. He made it back to the mound and tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings with four strikeouts against two walks, adding a scoreless postseason appearance (two-thirds of an inning) for good measure. The Orioles, however, declined Coulombe’s $4MM club option and allowed him to become a free agent.

Coulombe will return to a bullpen that’s still sporting plenty of familiar faces for him, reuniting with Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Cole Sands and Jorge Alcala — all of whom pitched in the 2022 Twins’ relief corps. The Duran/Jax combo is one of the best one-two punches of any bullpen in the game, and the 27-year-old Sands had a breakout showing of his own in 2024, giving the Twins an outstanding trio of power arms who not only miss bats but show plus command.

One glaring area of need in the ’pen, however, was a reliable lefty. Kody Funderburk and Brent Headrick were the only southpaw relief options on the Twins’ 40-man roster. Neither has established himself in the majors yet. Minor league pickup/non-roster invitee Anthony Misiewicz gave the Twins another option but, like the other in-house candidates, lacks a consistent track record. Coulombe gives manager Rocco Baldelli at least one immediate left-handed option.

Duran, Jax, Sands, Alcala, Coulombe and out-of-options righties Brock Stewart and Michael Tonkin all appear like locks for the bullpen. Rule 5 pick Eiberson Castellano could make the club with a good spring showing, but the Twins are a win-now club in spite of a quiet offseason that’s seen them lie dormant amid payroll concerns and a potential sale of the team. Carrying a Rule 5 pick is tougher for a postseason hopeful, and Minnesota could opt to give that final ’pen spot to veteran Justin Topa (who has minor league options remaining) or out-of-options righty Ronny Henriquez if Castellano struggles during Grapefruit League play.

Mike Elias Discusses Orioles’ Pitching Search

By Mark Polishuk | December 9, 2024 at 9:26pm CDT

Reports over the weekend suggested that the Orioles weren’t keen on giving up a compensatory draft pick in order to sign a pitcher who rejected a qualifying offer, which would seemingly rule out Max Fried, Sean Manaea, and Nick Pivetta from the team’s list of possible targets. Speaking with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko and other reporters today at the Winter Meetings, Orioles GM Mike Elias denied that the qualifying offer was an obstacle in club’s quest to add pitching.

“We’re in on everybody….When there’s aspects of the rules that create wrinkles, you’ve got to weigh them, so we do that,” Elias said. “But there is no player that we’re not interested in or pursuing in some shape or fashion if we feel like the talent is additive to the current roster that we have.”

Signing a qualified free agent would require the Orioles to give up their third-highest pick in the 2025 draft as compensation. Since the O’s would stand to gain two compensatory picks after the first round of the draft if Corbin Burnes and Anthony Santander (Baltimore’s own qualified free agents) signed with another team for more than $50MM, the Orioles’ third-highest pick would therefore fall within the 30-40 range of the 2025 draft order.

Losing such a high selection is no small matter, considering how highly teams prize draft picks. Fans might grumble that the Orioles’ prospect depth should mean that they should be more open to moving draft capital if it means landing more proven big leaguers, yet it should be noted that Baltimore already gave up a pick to land proven talent last offseason — the Orioles included their Competitive Balance Round-A selection (34th overall) as part of the trade package that brought Burnes to Baltimore from Milwaukee.

Elias’ comments today lined up with his comments from November about the Orioles were exploring “the whole spectrum” of pitching targets. This means both ace-level pitchers and mid-rotation help, and Elias didn’t rule out the possibility that Baltimore could add two pitchers to its pre-existing rotation base of Grayson Rodriguez, Zach Eflin, Dean Kremer, Albert Suarez, Cade Povich, Trevor Rogers, and Chayce McDermott.

In terms of gaining an ace, Burnes could depart in free agency, leaving a particularly big hole atop the rotation. Elias acknowledged the difficulty in acquiring such pitchers, whether via free agency or (as the O’s did in landing Burnes) in trades.

While Baltimore’s deep farm system ostensibly gives the club a leg up in trade talks, “there aren’t too many teams making their major league players available for prospects right now,” Elias said. “Those that are, we’re deeply engaged with those teams. Those that aren’t in that mode, we’re exploring more major league-for-major league kind of trades, which obviously take unique fits on the rosters.”

Beyond just the rotation, the O’s are looking to bolster the relief corps as well. The Orioles’ decision to non-tender Jacob Webb and decline Danny Coulombe’s $4MM club option seemingly ran counter to this desire for bullpen depth, but Elias said the team was open to bringing either pitcher back.

“You’re not able to keep every player that you like at all times at any cost, and so we have to do a balancing act when we’re curating our roster,” Elias said. “Sometimes that involves making tough decisions much earlier in the offseason than you’d like to when you don’t have a full picture of what’s going to happen and you don’t have a crystal ball and you have to make some decisions early in the offseason. But it doesn’t close the door.”

Orioles Exercise Club Option On Seranthony Domínguez, Decline Danny Coulombe

By Darragh McDonald | November 4, 2024 at 1:32pm CDT

The Orioles announced that they have exercise a club option on right-hander Seranthony Domínguez while declining their option on left-hander Danny Coulombe. They also announced that they have exercised options on left-hander Cionel Pérez and first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, as was reported earlier today. Domínguez will get $8MM next year instead of a $500K buyout. Coulombe could have been brought back for a $4MM salary but instead becomes a free agent with no buyout.

Domínguez, 30 this month, was acquired from the Phillies at the trade deadline. He went on to make 25 appearances for the O’s with a 3.97 earned run average. He struck out 28.6% of batters faced while giving out walks at a 9.2% clip.

The righty now has a 3.59 ERA, 27.3% strikeout rate, 9.6% walk rate and 45.9% ground ball rate over his 255 career appearances. Some of that has come in leverage situations, as he has racked up 38 saves and 58 holds in his career. Given that generally solid track record, it’s not really a surprise to see the Orioles plunk down another $7.5MM to keep him from getting away.

The decision on Coulombe is a bit more surprising as the lefty has had a solid two-year run with the O’s. He has tossed 81 innings for Baltimore since the start of 2023 with a 2.56 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate, 5.4% walk rate and 45.4% ground ball rate.

$4MM for a solid lefty reliever like that seems like good value for money but Coulombe also had some challenges this year. He underwent surgery in June to remove bone chips removed from his throwing elbow. He was able to come off the IL in September, making four appearances for the club down the stretch and one in the postseason, but that seemingly wasn’t enough to convince the O’s to keep him around for next year.

They could circle back to him in free agency but Coulombe will have a chance to speak to all of the other clubs as well. The fact that he’s now 35 and coming off an injury-marred season will hurt his earning power but his results over the past two years will work in his favor.

Orioles Activate Danny Coulombe From Injured List

By Anthony Franco | September 20, 2024 at 5:26pm CDT

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.

AL East Notes: Jansen, Yankees, LeMahieu, Webb, Mountcastle

By Mark Polishuk | September 14, 2024 at 1:29pm CDT

Kenley Jansen enjoyed ten straight years of playoff baseball before signing a two-year, $32MM free agent contract with the Red Sox during the 2022-23 offseason, and barring a late surge from Boston in the last two weeks of play, Jansen is now on pace for back-to-back without any postseason action. As he heads into free agency this winter, it therefore isn’t surprising that Jansen is “always gonna look for winning. Contending,” the closer told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo. “That’s going to be my priority…I want to be in a situation where we can contend for a title. That’s it.” This doesn’t necessarily mean Jansen wouldn’t consider a return to the Sox, as Jansen praised the team’s young talent and said he “had a blast wearing this uniform, playing for these fans.”

Even as he approaches his 37th birthday, Jansen has no plans to retire, suggesting that he’d like to pitch “at least until I’m 40-42.” There isn’t much on-field evidence that Jansen is running out of steam, as he remains an effective late-game weapon with a 3.48 ERA in 51 2/3 innings and 26 saves in 30 chances for Boston in 2024. Jansen figures to get a lot of attention in free agency this winter, and Cotillo suggests that the Yankees could look at Jansen as a potential replacement for Clay Holmes. The Red Sox and Giants were the only teams publicly linked to Jansen’s market in his prior stint as a free agent, but Cotillo writes that New York “made a serious run at Jansen before he” joined the Red Sox.

Orioles Notes: Rodriguez, Coulombe, Camden Yards

By Mark Polishuk | September 8, 2024 at 5:35pm CDT

It has been just over a month since the Orioles placed Grayson Rodriguez on the 15-day injured list due to a right lat/teres strain, and pitching coach Drew French provided reporters (including MLB.com’s Jake Rill) with an update on Rodriguez’s recovery process. Rodriguez threw his first bullpen session earlier this week, and French said “we’re hopeful that we’ll get a live [batting practice session] in and a rehab assignment started pretty soon.“

This would seem to put Rodriguez on pace for the late-September return that was projected by GM Mike Elias last month, though French left some wiggle room in stating whether or not Rodriguez would return as a starting pitcher. “We’re very hopeful to have him back in that capacity,” French said, but “obviously everything is on the table at this point, so [we] just kind of take it day-by-day and see where we’re at at the end.”

The calendar is naturally the issue, as the minor league season concludes on September 22. The Orioles don’t want to rush Rodriguez’s throwing progression for fear of aggravating his injury or causing a setback, yet as French put it, “we know we’re coming up against it right now” in terms of having enough time for Rodriguez to build up his pitch count through minor league rehab starts. On paper, Rodriguez could perhaps bank a minor league start and then continue his ramp-up in the majors, perhaps as a piggyback starter at first.

Since this would all have to come amidst the Orioles’ battle for the AL East title, it wouldn’t be an ideal situation for either the team or the player. While Baltimore is a virtual lock to reach the playoffs, winning the division and earning a first-round bye is the Orioles’ preferred method of entry. That bit of extra break would allow the O’s to line up their ideal postseason rotation, and gauge whether or not Rodriguez is fully fit enough to be part of said rotation.

Rodriguez’s spot as a playoff starter was all but assured at the time of his injury, as the second-year right-hander has a 3.86 ERA and above-average strikeout and walk rates over 116 2/3 innings. Corbin Burnes and Zach Eflin have playoff rotation spots booked, and any of Rodriguez, Albert Suarez, or Dean Kremer could be line for other starts depending on health, effectiveness, matchups, or however long Baltimore’s playoff run lasts.

Another pitcher’s timeline is a little clearer, as Danny Coulombe is set to start a rehab assignment this Wednesday with Triple-A Norfolk. Coulombe went on the 60-day injured list in June after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow, and appears to be on pace to return to the Orioles’ relief corps before the season is over. Coulombe has been nothing short of outstanding since joining the O’s in March 2023, becoming a trusted setup man on the strength of a 2.68 ERA in his 77 1/3 innings in a Baltimore uniform.

Seranthony Dominguez has emerged as the Orioles’ top closing candidate since he was acquired from the Phillies at the trade deadline, helping stabilize a Baltimore bullpen that has been a relative weak link in terms of its overall middle-of-the-pack performance. Losing Coulombe for a big chunk of the year didn’t help the bullpen’s cause, but his return should help further bolster the reliever depth chart heading into October.

In other Orioles news, chairman and CEO David Rubenstein shared some details on the renovations planned for Camden Yards as part of an interview with FOX 5’s Steve Chenevey (hat tip to Matt Weyrich of the Baltimore Sun). The process is tentatively slated to begin during the 2025-26 offseason and “take about four years before it’s completed….hopefully by the end of ’28 we will complete all the retrofit of the stadium,” Rubenstein said. The exact range of renovations isn’t yet known, though Rubenstein suggested that the work will add a few more modern touches and amenities to Camden Yards.

AL East Notes: Refsnyder, Bichette, Lowe, Coulombe, Trevino

By Mark Polishuk | August 17, 2024 at 1:02pm CDT

Rob Refsnyder turns 34 next March, and the utilityman is considering calling it a career after the 2024 season comes to an end. Speaking with Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe, Refsnyder said he is “undecided” about returning for what would be his tenth MLB season, and was even thinking about retirement even before he joined the Red Sox during the 2021-22 offseason. Once this year is over, Refsnyder said he’ll “take it step by step from there and decide what I do….You can still make a big impact not being in a uniform and it’s a lot easier for your family and their schedule.”

As per the terms of the contract extension Refsnyder signed in June 2023, the Sox hold a $2MM club option ($150K) on his services for 2025. This option looks like a lock to be exercised if Refsnyder wishes to keep playing, as he has an excellent .298/.384/.472 slash line over 251 plate appearances in part-time duty for the Red Sox this season. Still, Refsnyder is eager to spend more time with his family, and is perhaps keen to start working towards his longer-term goal of working in a front office.

Other items from around the AL East…

Bue Jays manager John Schneider gave MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson and other reporters an update on Bo Bichette, noting that the shortstop has started to increase baseball activities while working out at the Jays’ spring training facility in Dunedin. A timeline isn’t yet in place this early in Bichette’s recovery from a right calf strain, as the club will monitor his progress in the coming days or weeks before deciding on a possible rehab assignment. Bichette suffered the calf strain on July 19 in Toronto’s 5-4 loss to the Tigers, continuing an all-around disastrous season that has seen Bichette bat only .223/.276/.321 over 330 plate appearances. The former All-Star’s struggles are one of several reasons why the Blue Jays are out of the playoff race, and if Bichette isn’t showing progress in relatively short order, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Jays just shut him down for the remainder of the season.
2024 is the last guaranteed season of the six-year, $24MM extension Brandon Lowe signed with the Rays prior to Opening Day 2019, but Tampa still has a pair of club options ($10.5MM with a $1MM buyout for 2025, $11.5MM for 2026 with a $500K buyout) covering Lowe’s immediate future. “Whether they pick up the option or they don’t, I feel like I’m putting myself in a good position to still be on a team next year,” Lowe told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, but Lowe noted that playing with the Rays “is all I know. I like it here. My friends are here. We have a house here. It’s comfortable. I don’t know anything else. I know this.” Given how the Rays dealt a number of higher-priced veterans at the deadline, Topkin figures that Lowe’s continued presence on the roster means that the team will exercise the 2025 option and keep Lowe in Tampa Bay for an eighth season. Lowe is more than doing his part at the plate to sway the Rays’ mind, as he is hitting .248/.330/.488 with 14 homers over 282 PA.
Danny Coulombe is “on track” in his rehab process and is aiming to return in late September, the Orioles left-hander told MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko. Coulombe is on the 60-day IL after undergoing surgery in June to remove bone spurs from his left elbow. While he is still a few weeks away from getting onto a mound, Coulombe is up to throwing from 90 feet in games of catch. The Orioles’ bullpen has struggled badly in August, leaving Baltimore in even greater need for whatever the ace setup man can provide whenever he is able to return to action.
The Yankees activated catcher Jose Trevino from the 10-day injured list on Friday, and Carlos Narvaez was optioned to Triple-A in the corresponding move. Yesterday’s game marked Trevino’s first action since a left quad strain forced him out of the Yankees’ 4-1 win over the Orioles on July 12. Trevino figures to resume his catching platoon with Austin Wells, though Wells’ hot bat over the last month might have earned him a larger share of the playing time.

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