Closing in on the closers
Romano has Osuna, Ward in his sights, with Henke a few seasons away
“It’s one of the only things that makes me feel alive.”
Jordan Romano, adrenalin junkie, is climbing up a couple of all-time lists.
With a perfect ninth inning Sunday, the 30-year-old notched his 101st career save, moving out of a tie with Billy Koch and into fourth place alone in the Blue Jays’ record books. He’s three saves away from catching Roberto Osuna for third place, which would leave only franchise greats Duane Ward (121) and Tom Henke (217) in his sights.
Having collected 36 saves in each of the last two years, Romano needs similar production for three more seasons to move to the top.
“Just being in that conversation, I’m pretty grateful for that,” the Markham native said prior to the Jays’ 6-5 win over Kansas City on Monday.
“It’s something that you always dream of but just something that almost doesn’t feel possible. I want to keep climbing because I do love this team, love this city. So I want to cement myself a little bit in there, too.”
Romano is also fourth in saves among Canadian-born players. Toronto’s John Hiller had 125 saves, all with the Detroit Tigers in the 1960s and ’70s. He’s followed by John Axford, of Simcoe, Ont., with 144. The steroid-tainted Eric Gagné tops the list at 187.
“It’s an incredible accomplishment,” said Danny Jansen, who took a bounced slider in the throat on the second pitch he tried to catch from Romano back in 2014 when the now best buddies were teammates at rookie-level Bluefield.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Cavan Biggio, who played with Romano at four different stops on the Jays’ organizational ladder before they got to the big leagues in 2019.
“Phenomenal,” said skipper John Schneider, who managed Romano at all those minor-league outposts, save for Triple-A Buffalo.
And they all knew he could do it, even while he was making 25-plus starts a season.
“He’s always had it in him, for sure,” Jansen said.
“I always kind of saw him as being a high-end reliever,” said Biggio. “Not only because of how hard he throws and how good his slider was, but the mentality that he has. He wants the ball in the most intense situations. He can handle it, obviously, and ultimately thrives in it.”
Romano wasn’t faced with the intensity of a high-leverage, game-deciding situation all that often as a starter. The organization was trying to get him to develop a third pitch to go with his big fastball and filthy slider.
“I think back to him and his changeup,” Schneider said. “It’s like ‘Jordy you’ve got to throw X amount of changeups today’ and he’s like, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah.’ Then he gets into trouble and it’s 97 and a slider.”
Romano knew that the changeup wasn’t going to be a differencemaker.
“I just wasn’t comfortable with it,” the right-hander said. “I felt like at times during the off-season it would almost hinder what I was good at because I was … putting so much effort into this third pitch (that) I was taking away from my other two. “So when I finally got to abandon it and just work on what I’m really good at, kind of dial these two things in, I felt like some strides came quicker.”
Romano could have made the majors as a starter in 2019, when the Texas Rangers took him in the Rule 5 draft. He spent spring training with them but was sent back to Toronto at the end of March.
His catcher for a lot of that spring was Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
“He was throwing 90-92,” said Kiner-Falefa, now an infielder with the Jays. “Didn’t miss a spot. He was really like a finesse or probably an innings-eater-type starter. I thought he should have made the team and he didn’t make the team for some reason.”
Much to the Jays’ great fortune. They happily took him back, finally put him in the bullpen and the rest is history that continues to be written.
Since taking over the closer’s role for good in June of 2021, Romano has recorded 96 saves in 106 chances, a 90.6 per cent conversion rate. Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer in history, converted 89.1 per cent of his career chances.
The high-stakes life has Romano chasing that game-saving feeling.
“You know that feeling you get, it’s really intense, right?” said Romano, as though we might understand. “The game’s usually on the line, you’re facing a good lineup, whatever it is. There’s a lot of anxiety and stress that comes with it. And now it’s like I’m looking for it. Like if I don’t have it for a couple of days, it’s like I’m craving it.”
When those moments have come, Romano has made them count with extreme efficiency, and the Jays are happy that every spot he climbs on those all-time lists equals a win for them.