The Twins announced that they have left-handed Danny Coulombe for order to open a grid place for right hand Juan Minaya, whose contract has been selected from the alternative training site in St. Louis. Paul. Minnesota will also add leftists Lewis Thorpe of St. Paul as the 29th man on the team for today’s double header against the Tigers.
Coulombe, 30, appeared in a few games for Minnesota, counting 2 2/3 goalless innings with three strikeouts and three walks. He signed a small league contract this winter after posting excellent Triple-A strike numbers at the Yankees and Brewers last season: 61 in 36 1/3 frames. This year’s small example shows that he relies much more on his curveball than his slider – a departure from his past work in the big leagues that may help explain his recent leap into punchouts.
Overall, Coulombe has pitched in parts of six MLB seasons, working on a combined 4.19 ERA with 8.5 K / 9, 4.0 BB / 9, 0.99 HR / 9 and a 56.3 percent grounder rate. The Twins will have a week to run him through immediate exemptions or release him, and they could also trade him for another club before Monday afternoon’s deadline.
As for Minaya, he has spent the past four seasons with division rival White Sox, where he moved to a combined 3.93 ERA with 10.0 K / 9, 54.6 BB / 9, 0.98 HR / 9 and a 36.8 percent land rate in 128 1 set / 3 frames. Minaya’s control has caused him problems in the past, but he will give the Twins a fresh bullpen arm with some swing-and-miss abilities prior to the double head of the evening.
