Orioles finally get impact lefty reliever back after extended absence

After months of bad luck, the Orioles finally seem to be getting good news on the injury front. Most recently, left handed reliever Danny Coulombe was activated off the 60-day IL and was able to join the Orioles in Baltimore for Friday's matchup with the Tigers.

Coulombe missed almost four months after undergoing surgery to remove bone chips from his left elbow. Coulombe went under the knife back in early June, with the procedure being performed by the renowned Tommy John surgeon Dr. Neal El Attrache.

It was reported at the time that Coulombe was expected to return in September. Thankfully that timeline held true, as the lefty was able to successfully get through his rehab stint without any setbacks.

Orioles get a bullpen boost with the return of Danny Coulombe

Coulombe looked impressive in his rehab outings with the Triple-A Norfolk Tides. He didn't allow a run in three appearances, notching 2 strikeouts with nary a walk in the process. He followed that up with a strong performance in his return to Baltimore on Friday.

Brandon Hyde turned to Coulombe in the 8th inning against the Tigers and the lefty delivered, throwing a scoreless inning with 2 strikeouts. He did allow two hits but didn't walk any batters and kept the Tigers off the board.

Coulombe was an important part of the Orioles bullpen prior to going down with the elbow injury. He'd pitched to a 2.42 ERA with an impressive 2.86 FIP over 29 appearances, working primarily in medium and high leverage spots.

His return should allow Hyde to stop relying on the volatile Gregory Soto, who was brought in at the trade deadline to serve as an additional left handed reliever behind Cionel Perez. With Coulombe back and Keegan Akin pitching well, Soto's role should decrease over the next week as we head into the final push before the start of the postseason.

Soto hasn't been particularly good so until the Orioles are able to lock up a postseason berth, expect to see the trio of Coulombe, Perez, and Akin handle most of the load from the left side.

In order to activate Coulombe from the IL, the Orioles transferred righty Burch Smith to the 15-day IL with what they've called a right adductor groin strain. Smith's IL stint was backdated to the 18th, though he's been arguably the worst reliever in the Orioles' bullpen in the second half.

Smith has been a DFA candidate for at least a month as the Orioles have struggled to keep things together in the final stretch, but was able to hang onto his roster spot until Friday. It's unlikely that Smith will return to pitch in the postseason, not because of the injury but because of poor performance.