“He’s Been Phenomenal”: Danny Coulombe is the Dominant Soft-Tossing Veteran in a Young, Flamethrowing Bullpen

[Matthew Taylor]

Image courtesy of © Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

When the Minnesota Twins signed Danny Coulombe this offseason for just $3 million, it barely made a ripple. A 35-year-old left-handed reliever returning to his old team after a solid year in Baltimore? Most fans saw it as a minor move—maybe a steady veteran to round out the bullpen after Caleb Thielbar left in free agency, but nothing more.

Instead, Coulombe has been one of the most valuable and consistent arms on the roster.

He hasn’t allowed a run yet this season. His strikeout rate is a career-best 32.8%. Lefties are hitting just .148 against him. Righties? Even worse, just .133, with 10 strikeouts in 30 at-bats. He’s walked one batter. One. And the Twins have used him in all kinds of spots: to get a single tough lefty out, to clean up late-inning messes, and most recently, to lock down the heart of an opposing lineup in a high-leverage ninth inning.

That outing, on Sunday against the Giants, might have been his finest yet. After Griffin Jax had just coughed up the lead, Coulombe entered a tie game and faced the 9-1-2 hitters in San Francisco’s order, with a seven-game winning streak on the line. He struck out Christian Koss and Willy Adames, before stranding the go-ahead run at second by inducing a fly ball from Jung Hoo Lee. The Twins would go on to win in extras—but without Coulombe stepping up in the biggest moment, that opportunity might never have come.

Coulombe doesn’t overpower anyone with velocity—his fastball averages just 90 MPH—but he works with five different pitches, all of them effective. He keeps hitters off-balance by mixing speeds, eye levels, and locations. His cutter is his bread and butter, thrown about 35% of the time and generating swing-and-miss roughly 30% of the time. It’s the foundation of his approach and keeps hitters guessing.

The pitch that’s been most intriguing this year, though, is his sinker. Coulombe has increased its usage from 14% last season to 23% in 2025. What makes it so unusual isn’t just the volume—it’s the location. Coulombe is almost exclusively throwing the sinker to the glove side, a highly unconventional strategy, especially for a left-hander.

To understand why that’s noteworthy: a sinker is a pitch that typically has "arm-side" movement, meaning it runs in toward batters on the same side of the plate (e.g., a lefty pitcher facing a lefty batter). Most pitchers use this movement to jam hitters and induce weak contact to their arm side. For a southpaw, that means the first-base side of the dish, in on lefties and away from righties. But Coulombe is defying convention by commanding his sinker to the glove side—away from same-sided hitters—essentially treating it more like a cutter or backdoor fastball. It’s a tough pitch to execute, but when done well, it can freeze hitters.

Batters are hitting just .133 against his sinker this year, and against lefties, where he’s using that backdoor approach, Coulombe is throwing the sinker more than any other pitch. Left-handers are hitting just .100 against it. It’s truly becoming a weapon, especially against lefties.

“It’s a pitch that I think really plays with my other stuff really well,” he said Saturday. “Being able to command it backdoor to lefties is generally a pretty good pitch. So I feel like if I execute it, good things generally will happen.”

That precision didn’t come naturally—it came through reps.

"I think for most guys, we just don’t practice it," Coulombe explained. "It’s something that actually we really opened up last year when I was with the Orioles, was, ‘Hey, let’s target it. Let’s move the catcher out, and then let’s practice it a lot.’ A lot of guys say they can’t do it, but it’s like, ‘Have you actually tried, and have you spent time doing it?’ Because in my opinion, there’s guys on this team that have really good command that don’t do it, and I’m like, y’all should try. It’s a good pitch, if you can execute it."

The data backs it up, and it fuels the commitment.

“Just seeing the data on it, ‘OK, if I can get it to that spot, it plays really well,’ then I’m going to practice that every single day.”

Coulombe’s value to the Twins goes beyond the numbers. With a bullpen full of electric but relatively young arms like Jhoan Duran, Cole Sands, and Louis Varland, his presence has been a steadying one. He’s not just getting outs—he’s modeling preparation, poise, and execution. Rocco Baldelli made that clear when asked about what Coulombe has brought to the club.

“He’s been awesome, and he’s brought a ton of character, personality and leadership to the clubhouse,” Baldelli said. “It’s been a pretty good signing. It’s something we were excited about at the time … He’s been phenomenal.”

The original vision for Coulombe may have been a lefty-on-lefty matchup guy, but he’s earned a much larger role.

“I thought of him as a very versatile guy,” Baldelli said. “But also, you can just pitch him. You can send him out there against anyone. He has the stuff and the ability to locate to get righties out. He’s been kind of a stopper in a lot of ways.”

It’s easy to overlook a 35-year-old soft-tossing reliever with a $3-million deal signed in January. But there’s nothing quiet about what Danny Coulombe is doing for the Twins right now. He’s been one of the best relievers in baseball. and one of the most important players on this team. And he’s doing it as part of a bullpen that’s become one of the best in baseball.

Minnesota currently leads baseball in bullpen fWAR and, since April 20, Twins relievers own a 2.56 ERA, third-best in the league. Coulombe’s incredible performance, his ability to get hitters out on both sides of the plate, the versatility in his pitch mix, and his ebullient veteran presence have been driving forces behind the group’s dominance.

He was signed to quietly fill a left-handed void. Instead, he’s become one of the loudest reasons for optimism as the season marches on.

View full article

[Markdumont25]

I feel like he's guaranteed to give up a big inning after this 🥲

[bean5302]

Coulombe is getting it done. It's nice to see him doing so well out of the gate this year.

[Parfigliano]

6 minutes ago, Markdumont25 said:

I feel like he's guaranteed to give up a big inning after this 🥲

The article is tempting fate.

[tarheeltwinsfan]

Ebullient means joyful. I looked it up.  Thanks Mathew for once again expanding my vocabulary.  Plus it was an informative article. I feel ebullient.  

[Danchat]

Nice to finally see this front office make a success free agent bullpen addition... but yeah, now I feel like we've jinxed him.

[Matthew Taylor]

26 minutes ago, tarheeltwinsfan said:

Ebullient means joyful. I looked it up.  Thanks Mathew for once again expanding my vocabulary.  Plus it was an informative article. I feel ebullient.  

Credit to my wonderful editor, Matthew Trueblood for that one. 

[JD-TWINS]

One walk and no runs over 18 appearances kind of moves him past “one of the best pitchers on the staff” IMO. He’s it, within his role.

16 1/3 innings he has 19 K’s and again 1 walk and an ERA of 0.00. He’ll obviously give up some hits/runs going forward but he’s really filled a void and seems to be improving yearly at age 35. Big time addition in the Pen!

[Vanimal46]

I’m going to take a wild guess Baltimore wishes they kept him for whatever the arbitration price was last winter… 

The thing I’ve agreed with most in the Falvey era is not spending significant money on relief pitching. They’re the kings of SSS, and you can always move a failing SP prospect to that role. Coulombe is either a 1 year wizard for us at this age, or a fantastic trade chip if he keeps it up. 

[Doctor Wu]

Good article, and very informative look at how effective his sinker has been this year. Always useful to learn more about the pitchers and their approach. I was puzzled when the Twins let Coulombe go a few years back, and then the Orioles picked him up and he performed very well. He always seemed to get things done, and this year that has been the case and more. One of those sneaky-good signings that has helped the team tremendously this season. 

[Eris]

When pitchers like Coulombe have success it makes me wonder if there is too much groupthink in baseball. Hi octane pitchers throwing the same/similar pitches with maximum delivery makes it easier for hitters to adjust to different pitchers. 

[Linus]

 

When pitchers like Coulombe have success it makes me wonder if there is too much groupthink in baseball. Hi octane pitchers throwing the same/similar pitches with maximum delivery makes it easier for hitters to adjust to different pitchers. 

I’ve had similar thoughts- most pro leagues tend to be copy cat leagues. I guess the more flamethrowers there are would make guys like Coulombe more unique?  In any event I enjoy watching pitchers getting outs with other methods besides velocity. 

[Fire Dan Gladden]

 

When pitchers like Coulombe have success it makes me wonder if there is too much groupthink in baseball. Hi octane pitchers throwing the same/similar pitches with maximum delivery makes it easier for hitters to adjust to different pitchers. 

MLB has gone away from "pitchers" and is choosing "hard throwers". People forget how effective pitchers can be throwing 88 mph if they have control, effectively mix up pitches, and can call good games. 

[DJL44]

 

When pitchers like Coulombe have success it makes me wonder if there is too much groupthink in baseball. Hi octane pitchers throwing the same/similar pitches with maximum delivery makes it easier for hitters to adjust to different pitchers. 

Coulombe is a great contrast to all the flame throwers the Twins have in the bullpen. He probably makes the next reliever to pitch in the game that much more effective.

[bean5302]

 

When pitchers like Coulombe have success it makes me wonder if there is too much groupthink in baseball. Hi octane pitchers throwing the same/similar pitches with maximum delivery makes it easier for hitters to adjust to different pitchers. 

Coulombe throwing 90 does probably cause a minor wrinkle on swing timing. Not sure if it's more than offset by the decision time a batter has. When pitchers were consistently throwing 90mph fastballs, hitters had time to choose to try and pull or slap a ball oppo. His movement is the big problem. The curve and splitter move the same way, they're both breaking pitches, but the separation is 8mph and 30" of break... It's nasty.