The lone bright spot in the Phillies’ unfortunate opener in Atlanta this weekend was JoJo Romero, the young left-hander who knocked the side out on 12 pitches in his MLB debut on Friday.
Romero knocked Adam Duvall out with a move in an at-bat with three fields, then knocked out Austin Riley and Johan Camargo with substitutions. It was an impressive first tone, especially against three opposing hand hitters.
Romero, 24 in two weeks, has a chance to seize an opportunity in the Phillies ’bullpen. Jose Alvarez, the Phils’ top-left scammer, is on the injured list with a testicular controversy that suffered on Thursday. Romero is one of three lefties in the Phillies’ pin along with Adam Morgan and Cole Irvin. Irvin is here more for mop-up duty than multi-inning stints, so Romero should see a lot of chances as the first or second lefty from the ‘pin.
“It was everything I thought about, but I did not even think it was going to happen at the same time. It was pretty great,” Romero said of his debut.
His fastball averaged 95 mph and he hit 96. Romero was ejected at Lehigh Valley, the Phillies’ alternative side, and all 75 of his career appearances in minor leagues have been started. Like most pitchers, he plays his fastballs out of the bullpen because he can let it go in shorter bursts.
“I just think using my fastball a little more aggressively will play really great,” Romero said. “You saw the little uptick in speed. I hope to do that day-in and day-out. I think I made really big strides with my change. I feel like it’s always been a good pitch of mine, but lately, it’s been more of a swing-and-miss scene, I hope to build on that.
“Being able to rely on just fastball, switching, sliding, aggressive out of the gate can be, it would have to help me a lot.”
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