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 Mediate 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.
More to come…
