Romero gets back on track
Better late than never again for southpaw as he continues to improve
Jo Jo Romero returned to Double-A on May 21, but everything he was trying to fix from his first seven Triple-A starts took the ride with him down Route 222.
No tempo. No feel for any of the many pitches he throws. No ability to put together a sequence of pitches. No put-away pitch. No success.
Slowly, though, the 22-yearold left-hander found a pace and started executing his pitches after breaking down video.
Start by start, Romero began to piece together his season.
Now two starts into his second stint with the IronPigs, the California native is making sure he’s back on the Phillies’ prospect radar again.
“I just want to maintain this rhythm, this pattern I’m in,” said Romero who starts Friday against visiting Charlotte. “Just keep having more consistency leading up to my starts, putting myself in good position. I’m healthy enough, feeling confident, strong. I’m not worried in the back of my head about burning out.
“I feel strong on pitch 1 to 100 or whatever.”
Romero earlier this season struggled to get to the sixth inning as he approached 100 pitches. He labored from the start. His pace was ultra methodical. His execution of pitches was not where it needed to be.
The results were predictable. He was 2-2 in his first seven
starts (which totaled 28 innings) with a 9.64 ERA, .358 batting average against, 2.25 WHIP and more combined walks and homers allowed (24) than strikeouts (22).
The 2016 fourth-round pick put the Lehigh Valley bullpen on alert early in most of those starts.
“I had trouble in general with the fastball,” Romero said. “Early in the year, I was just trying to throw something for a strike.”
The 6-foot, 190-pounder continued to struggled upon returning to Double-A. He walked three of the first six Richmond batters he faced and yielded a five-spot before getting three outs.
This was nothing new to the organization. Romero struggled mightily in his first seven Double-A outings of 2018. He turned it around before an injury cost him the final seven weeks of the season.
The left-hander found something later this spring watching
frame-by-frame video of his grip and hand position while throwing his slider. He took that to a bullpen session, then regained a feel for the pitch.
“I was supposed to throw a back-foot slider to a righty,” Romero recalled of the bullpen session, “but threw a backdoor slider.
“But it came out so smooth. It snapped. It felt so good. It took that one to say, ‘OK, I’m back on track.’ Then muscle memory just kicked in.”
Romero began piecing together his season by not allowing the game’s necessities slow him down. If he needed to back up a base or cover first base on a grounder to the right side, he quickly found the pitching rubber and got back in rhythm.
His results soon followed. Romero allowed a two-out single to current Blue Jay Dante Bichette before retiring the final 13 Harrisburg Senators he faced in a June 14 win.
The Yavapai College (Arizona) product’s confidence began to swell as his ability to work through difficult situations continued.
Romero gave up a home run to the second batter he faced in the first start of his second Triple-A stint, but regrouped to limit the first-inning damage. His defense helped him escape the second inning after he walked two batters.
He did the rest, retiring nine of the last 10 Norfolk Tides he faced.
“I took only a pitch or two to get my tempo back,” Romero recalled. “And I made the right pitches when I needed them. In a double-play situation, I got a ground ball. With runners in scoring position and two outs, I got a fly ball or ground ball.
“I’m executing when I need to.”
Romero is 4-1 in his last seven starts between the two levels with a 2.19 ERA, .221 BAA and 1.05 WHIP. His pace and efficiency have led to better numbers and more effectiveness with his top two pitches.
“He’s pitched [lately] like the Jo Jo I remembered from last year,” said IronPigs pitching coach Steve Schrenk, who was in the same role in 2018 with Reading, “the one I didn’t see
earlier this year. I didn’t see that wipeout slider, the go-to changeup.
“I hope he’s not a slow starter since we’ve kind of seen a trend.”
Romero said he’ll evaluate how he prepares in the offseason and spring training in an effort to be ready for the start of 2020.
For now, he is focused on finishing better than he started.