Boston Red Sox on Verge of Getting Key Hurler Back From IL

The Boston Red Sox are inching closer to full strength, but there's more work to do.

Sep 20, 2019; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A detail view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox are going to have to make a decision in the bullpen in the very near future.

On Friday, injured lefty Danny Coulombe made his first minor league rehab appearance after popping up on the Injured List with cervical spasms. At the time, the Red Sox promoted Alec Gamboa to the big league roster in his place. Before the injury, Coulombe had a 5.63 ERA in 12 appearances for Boston after signing with the club late in free agency. He has been better than that number sounds, though. Coulombe has nine scoreless appearances so far this season. He has given up runs in just three of his 12 appearances. Over that stretch, only one of them was more than one run, and that was three earned runs on April 23.

At this point, Boston could use all of the help that it can get. Before Coulombe's outing on Friday, MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo shared on X that he could end up needing one tune-up outing before coming back up to the majors.

The Red Sox Could Have Another Piece Very Soon

Apr 11, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Danny Coulombe (67) pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

"Danny Coulombe is pitching for AA Portland tonight in a rehab assignment. It might be his only outing before returning," Cotillo wrote.

While it hasn't been confirmed yet if that will be the case, Coulombe did have a good outing. He threw nine pitches and allowed one base hit without allowing a run.

Final line for Danny Coulombe
1.0 | 1 H | 0 R | 0 BB | 9 pitches, 5 strikes pic.twitter.com/h5XvhB2G0J

— Portland Sea Dogs (@PortlandSeaDogs) May 15, 2026

The bullpen has been a weapon for Boston all season to this point. Right now, the Red Sox have the fourth-best bullpen ERA in baseball. Boston's bullpen and rotation both have been very good. Over the last 15 days, Boston is third in baseball in general in team ERA at 2.36. The offense just hasn't been getting it done. Despite a 2.36 team ERA over the last 15 days, Boston is 6-7.

If Coulombe can return to the club after just one rehab outing, that will be great. It will help the bullpen even more, but obviously won't solve Boston's biggest issue. For the Red Sox, they need to find a way to just score a few runs per game. It's easier said than done, of course, but Boston has been among the worst teams in baseball in doing this. Right now, the Red Sox are 27th in the league with just 163 runs scored. Getting Coulombe will help, but not solve the big issue.