COLLEGE BASEBALL
UH’s Seth Romero is focused on the season, not the possibility of being a first-round draft choice.
Seth Romero allows himself to escape, albeit just for a moment, to the thought of being a projected first-round pick in the MLB draft.
“It would be awesome,” the University of Houston junior lefthander said Tuesday. “A dream come true.” That’s it. No time to daydream, not with the Cougars’ hopes of returning to the NCAA Tournament — after missing out last season — hinging, among other things, on a dominant year by Romero.
“He definitely fits the mold of what a firstround draft pick looks like as far as tools and ability and those things,” seventh-year UH coach Todd Whitting said. “Now for him, it’s a matter of going out there and winning games and proving the projections are correct, which he is perfectly capable of doing.”
No. 10 on Top 100 list
Now the undisputed ace of the staff, Romero makes his first start in Friday’s season opener against Wake Forest at Schroeder Park.
He will take the mound about 40 pounds lighter than at this time a year ago.
He still has a low-to-mid 90s fastball and hard slider but continues to work on a change-up.
“Once I get that down, it’s going to be fun,” he said with a hint of a smile. “It’s getting there.”
More than anything, Romero will take the mound with a different perspective. He has grown as a pitcher — “I’m a little bit smarter,” he said — and has learned to accept the highs (72⁄3 no-hit innings against Louisiana-Lafayette in an NCAA regional as a freshman) and lows (what amounted to a two-start suspension to begin last season).
“I’m just worried about now, what’s in front of me,” Romero said. “I’m not really worried about the last two years. They were fun. But I’m worried about this year right now.”
In January, Romero was named No. 10 on Baseball America’s Top 100 college draft prospects, the highest of any player from a Texas school. He’s listed as a preseason All-American by most of the national publications.
Come June, Romero could end an 11-year drought and become the first UH player taken in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft since righthander Brad Lincoln 2006.
“It’s fun to see it and get congratulations from family members and friends,” Romero said of draft projections that have him going late in the first round. “I try not to focus on it really at all because, honestly, it’s preseason stuff. I have to perform to do that. Pretty much I have to do what I’ve done the previous two years and I should be fine.”
Strikeout artist
Romero has led the Cougars in ERA in both seasons, posting a 1.94 as American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year in 2015 and a 2.29 last season. He has been one of the nation’s top strikeout pitchers during that stretch, averaging nearly 11 per nine innings a year ago, while ranking 11th nationally in fewest hits (5.7).
After splitting time between the bullpen and starting rotation as a freshman, Romero was a full-time starter last season and went 6-4. He’s 13-8 in two seasons.
“I think he has a little bit more of a purpose to him,” Whitting said.
Romero said his weight loss was the result of the arrival of strength and conditioning coach Ryan Deatrick “who pushes us all to the max.” There also have been lessons learned: He missed two starts to begin the 2016 season for what Whitting called “conduct detrimental to the team.”
“He’s never done anything to embarrass the program,” Whitting said. “There are policies, procedures and rules and the way we go about doing things that are not optional. Since that point, he has gone forward and been a great teammate and player.”
Added Romero: “I definitely learned something from it — that I have to worry about the team, put the team before myself always.”
As the Friday starter, Romero understands his role. Whitting said Romero has a chance to be “a workhorse,” setting the tone for the weekend by pitching deep into his starts and preserving the bullpen.
“My thing is when I go out on the mound, I want to stay out there as long as I can and give up the least amount of runs,” Romero said. “That’s all I’m about.”
The draft talk can wait a few months.