With the Yankees shopping for left-handed bullpen help, they’ve been connected to various options on the market as we swiftly approach the start of Spring Training. The Yankees have yet to land their southpaw and do not have a left-handed reliever currently on their 40-man roster, which I imagine they would like to change before their Opening Day matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers. While Tim Hill is a familiar option, he’s yet to sign which could indicate that what he’s asking for is higher than what any team would feel comfortable paying him.
If they continue to evaluate all options, perhaps they should sign Danny Coulombe, who posted a 2.12 ERA last season and brings both swing-and-miss stuff and excellent damage prevention.
Why Danny Coulombe Makes Perfect Sense For the Yankees’ Bullpen
After being acquired for cash considerations from the Twins, the Orioles shifted Danny Coulombe away from a four-seamer that was starting to flounder and taught him a cutter, a pitch that has quickly become one of the most reliable weapons in his arsenal. Last season it got hit pretty hard, but it did a good job of generating whiffs and getting criticial outs, resulting in the seventh-highest Run Value/100 for any cutter over the past two seasons (min. 300 cutters thrown).
It set the foundation for a dominant two-year stretch where he had the fourth-best ERA for any left-handed reliever with at least 80 IP at 2.56. The other weapon that came to prominence with the Orioles was the development of a big sweeping slider, a pitch that teams usually didn’t push lefties to develop. Sweepers have some pretty drastic platoons as opposite-handed hitters do well against those big breaking balls, but due to the 49.3 inches of vertical drop that he generates on that sweeper, it can get outs against lefties and righties.
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Danny Coulombe’s uniquely high arm angle makes his sweeper a devastating weapon, and it’s why he’s struck out 28.4% of batters faced over the past two seasons. Paired with his cutter, he can attack the third-base side of the plate against both righties and lefties, but they’re not the only weapons capable of getting Coulombe outs sustainably. His four-seamer and sinker sit at around 90-91 MPH, but due to how different they are from his cutter or sweeper, he’s able to get soft contact with both pitches that can result in outs.
His four-seamer held batters to a .077 SLG% while his sinker held them to a .133 SLG%, so while they struggle to generate whiffs, they serve an important role in his repertoire. Batters had a .359 xwOBACON and 4.7% Barrel% against the veteran left-hander last season, so while his strikeout rates are impressive, Coulombe also specializes in generating harmless contact in key spots. Batters had a 48.6% GB% against him last season, and while that’s lower than what Tim Hill had last season, the pitching staff would be better as a whole if they traded some of those grounders for whiffs.
Strikeouts have become a priority for the Yankees this winter, acquiring both Devin Williams and Fernando Cruz to try and supercharge this bullpen. 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.
With that much swing-and-miss in one bullpen, the Yankees could be a nightmare to face in close games as they can punch guys out with runners on and squash rallies. Adding Danny Coulombe doesn’t finish the offseason for the Yankees, they would need another infielder to consider themselves complete, but he certainly helps them get closer to that finish line. It takes an already excellent pitching staff and makes them that much better. It takes a bullpen that needs a lefty and gives them one that has a sub-2.60 ERA over the past two seasons.
It’s a unique look as a cutter-first pitcher with a super-high release point, and it could be the move that places the Yankees as the top pitching force in the American League. Another thing that I love about Danny Coulombe; he rarely walks batters. That matters to me in close games, the Yankees may have won the World Series if they didn’t walk Gavin Lux in the 10th inning of Game 1, they need someone who can go after hitters when the game is on the line.
He’s the perfect fit for the Yankees and their bullpen, and if Danny Coulombe’s price is right, he could be the perfect short-term solution to their need for left-handed relief help.
