Philadelphia Phillies’ reliever Jordan Romano hasn’t had a great season—and it became even worse with his placement on the 15-day injured list on Aug. 26 due to right middle finger inflammation.
But Romano said last week that he plans to pitch again after his IL stint, per Jared Greenspan of MLB.com. That could give the 32-year-old reliever time to figure out his lackluster performance this season, during which he holds an 8.23 ERA over 49 relief appearances.
With the postseason quickly approaching, the Phillies certainly hope that’ll be the case.
Romano’s plan to return
A day after landing on the IL, Romano expressed his plan to pitch again this season:
“I do; I just need to figure some things out, for sure,” he said, per Greenspan. “Obviously, the way I was pitching wasn’t great at all. I need to figure it out and hopefully get back to feeling like my old self.”
When Romano is at his best, he’s phenomenal. The 10th-round pick of the 2014 Draft excelled for most of his six seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, earning two All-Star nods in 2022 and 2023.
During his two All-Star campaigns, he held a sub-3.00 ERA and recorded 36 saves in each of those two years. But Romano’s career took a turn after he missed most of last season due to right elbow inflammation.
He signed with Philadelphia in free agency this past winter but hasn’t been able to find his rhythm all season. The most recent example of his pitching woes came a day before he hit the IL on Aug. 25 when he surrendered four runs in the seventh inning to the New York Mets, which extended their lead to 10-3.
Romano will have to look much better than that after his IL stint if he plans on pitching for the Phillies again this season.