It’s been nearly a full year since Danny Coulombe has given up a run. Just don’t tell him that.
“There’s some things that are not talked about, you know?” Coulombe said.
And this is one of them, though that stat might be somewhat misleading. Coulombe did miss much of the summer last year, recovering from surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. That still doesn’t take away from the fact that the veteran reliever has been awfully impressive in his return to Minnesota.
Coulombe, 35, has made 17 appearances this year, all of them scoreless. As the only southpaw in the Twins’ bullpen, he’s often tasked with facing tough lefties. Friday, with Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax each having pitched the night before, he came out for his second save of the year, and needed only nine pitches — eight of them strikes — to get it.
“Danny’s been as good as you can be,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You really can’t do it much better than what he’s doing.”
No, you can’t.
Coulombe has thrown 15⅓ scoreless innings. He has struck out 17, walked just one and boasts a 0.522 WHIP (Walks and Hits Per Inning Pitched). His scoreless streak stretches even further than that. He last gave up a run on May 26, 2024. His 25⅓ scoreless-inning streak is the longest active one in the majors.
“(He’s) one of the better lefties in the whole game, so he’s a big addition to our bullpen,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “Having that lefty who can get righties and lefties out at a really good clip, he’s going to be a staple of our bullpen all year.”
Coulombe has been tough on righties (they’re slashing .143/.172/.214 against him) and even better against lefties (.120/.120/.120) in his second stint with the Twins.
The lefty pitched for the Twins between 2020-22 and returned as a minor league free agent in 2023, fighting to make the roster in spring training. Since the Twins did not plan to carry him, he exercised an upward mobility clause in his contract, going to the Baltimore Orioles, where he posted a 2.81 earned-run average in his first year, and a 2.12 ERA last year.
And though last year was disrupted by a surgery, he finished the season healthy and has kept going from there.
“I feel like I’m the same pitcher I was last year,” he said. “Rocco and the staff have done a really good job putting me in situations that are conducive for me and my skillset.”
Wallner progressing
Matt Wallner had never had a hamstring injury, so he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect from his magnetic resonance imaging results. He did know one thing: “I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to come out good,” the right fielder said.
Wallner was diagnosed with a moderate-to-severe hamstring strain and while he still isn’t nearing a return, he has been making progress since being placed on the injured list on April 17. He has been able to hit and do other baseball activities throughout the process, and has started running at 100 percent. On Friday, he tried turning while running for the first time.
“I don’t know what that means,” Wallner said. “I’ve never done it before but it should be good, I would think.”
Briefly
Reliever Michael Tonkin, out with a shoulder strain, suffered a setback on his rehab assignment. Tonkin, who was in the Twins’ clubhouse on Saturday, has made six rehab appearances thus far. … The Twins will finish out their homestand on Sunday with Pablo López on the mound facing off against righty Landen Roupp.
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