The Philadelphia Phillies are riding high after winning two out of three against the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers. It’s only April, but the Phillies are 7-2 and look to have the makings of a championship-caliber team.
One of the Phillies’ top offseason acquisitions was signing veteran reliever Jordan Romano to a one-year, $8.5 million contract. The right-hander made two consecutive All-Star appearances with the Toronto Blue Jays from 2022 to 2023 and recorded 105 saves during his six seasons in “The Six.”
Romano dealt with elbow injuries in 2024, eventually leading to season-ending surgery. He appeared in just 15 games, pitching 13 2/3 innings. Despite his injury-riddled season, the Phillies took a chance on him in hopes of getting the former late-inning All-Star reliever. Through his first five appearances with his new team, Romano has been a massive disappointment.
Jordan Romano’s early-season struggles are giving Phillies fans PTSD
Romano made his first appearance with the Phillies on Opening Day against the Washington Nationals. He took the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning with a 3-1 lead. After allowing a walk and a hit-by-pitch to start the inning, the Nationals scored on an RBI ground out. Romano struck out the next batter before allowing a game-tying RBI single. His ERA was 18.00 to begin his Phillies career.
It wouldn’t be Philadelphia if the fans didn’t overreact after one game. The fans are passionate about their teams and expect a certain standard from the players, especially a player making $8.5 million.
Romano seemed to have redeemed himself after his next two appearances against the Colorado Rockies on March 31 and April 3. The 31-year-old pitched two scoreless innings, recording three strikeouts and allowing just two hits. His ERA in the young season dropped to 6.00.
Romano’s success and trust with the fans were short-lived. After seven scoreless innings of two-hit baseball by Jesús Luzardo and a scoreless eighth inning by Matt Strahm and José Ruiz during the series opener against the then-undefeated Dodgers, Romano entered in the ninth in a 3-0 game to try to close it out. He allowed two walks and a two-run home run before the game ended on a strike-’em-out, throw-’em-out double play. Romano recorded his first save with the Phillies.
As if things couldn’t get worse for Romano, he allowed two hits, one walk and three earned runs during the seventh inning of Sunday’s 8-7 win over the Dodgers. The struggling veteran was replaced by Orion Kerkering before recording an out.
Jordan Romano lasts three batters in the 7th inning. Single-walk-double to make it a 6-5 game. Hears boos as he leaves the field.
Fastball velo down again.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) April 6, 2025
This isn’t the first time in recent history that the Phillies took a chance on an aging reliever who had success previously in their careers, as The Good Phight reminded us on social media site X.
