With just 25 days to go before the they take the field to open their 2025 spring training schedule against the Tampa Bay Rays at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla., the New York Yankees still have a glaring hole in their bullpen. With the departures of Nestor Cortes to the Milwaukee Brewers in the Devin Williams trade, and Tim Hill to free agency, the Yankees do not have a single left-handed reliever on their major league roster.
But according to a recent prediction by Ryan Garcia, a baseball commentator for Empire Sports Media, the Yankees could find a southpaw bullpen option for an inexpensive price by looking in the Baltimore Orioles' direction.
Specifically, they need to look at a pitcher who was unexpectedly cut from the Orioles' roster almost immediately after the conclusion of the 2024 season. Danny Coulombe, a 35-year-old 10-year veteran who struck out 32 in 29 2/3 innings last season, had a $4 million option for 2025 after collecting $2.3 million from Baltimore last season.
But while the Orioles picked up club options on two other bullpen pitchers, Cionel Perez and Seranthony Dominguez, they chose to cut ties with Coulombe. The decision caught Orioles-watchers by surprise. As FanSided Orioles writer Andrew Bassan wrote at the time, "since the start of the 2023 season, Coulombe has arguably been the Orioles' best and most consistent reliever."
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The lefty's injury history likely factored into Baltimore's surprise move. Coulombe missed three months in 2024 after he had bone chips removed from his throwing elbow in June. But he returned Sept. 20 to make four appearances, striking out four in 3 2/3 innings and, more importantly, allowing zero runs.
"Strikeouts have become a priority for the Yankees this winter, acquiring both Devin Williams and Fernando Cruz to try and supercharge this bullpen," Garcia wrote. "Given the decline in strikeouts from Yankee relievers over the past few seasons, getting another pitcher who can rack up strikeouts would make this pitching staff even more deadly for teams to face."
Coulombe brings an unusual look for a lefty pitcher. He relies heavily on the sweeper, a pitch that has come into wide use in MLB over the past few seasons. The sweeper is similar to a slider, but while a traditional slider features sharp, tight horizontal movement, the sweeper shows batters a wider, "sweeping" break and is thrown at a slower velocity.
According to Statcast, the sweeper has been Coulombe's most reliable strikeout pitch over the last two seasons, using out to put away batters on 24.3 percent of his K's in 2023, upping that rate to 28.1 percent in 2024.
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