READING — Red Bull cans, beware. JoJo Romero may be on the path back to the majors.
After missing over a year recovering from Tommy John surgery, the left-hander — who went viral in 2020 for smashing energy-drink containers on his forearm before entering games — is getting back on track in a minor-league rehab assignment. And, of course, the can-crushing ritual is still riding strong.
“Yeah, I still do it,” Romero said with a smile on Friday afternoon on the field at Reading’s FirstEnergy Stadium. “Red Bull once in a while, I really like G Fuel. So, we’ll see what happens.”
Romero, 25, is currently rehabbing with the Double-A Fightin Phils, hoping to work his way back to the Phillies’ big-league bullpen. He’s readjusting to the routine of a full-time reliever, a role he doesn’t have a ton of professional experience with in the first place.
Once a soft-tossing, finesse starter in the minors, Romero was moved to the bullpen after the 2019 season. He pitched well at the alternate site in the summer of 2020 and earned a shot in Philadelphia, immediately bringing a new-found 95 mph fastball and a spark to a disastrous Phillies bullpen.
However, Romero stumbled down the stretch after four scoreless outings to start his career, finishing the season with a 7.59 ERA in 12 appearances. The beginning of 2021 didn’t go much better for Romero as he posted a 7.00 ERA in 11 outings. Following the poor start, he hit the injured list in May of last year with the left elbow ailment that would later require surgery, ending his season prematurely.
It’s now been a long time since Romero has thrown in a major-league setting, but that’s given him a chance to reflect on his first two stints in the bigs.
“That’s the beauty with that kind of layoff that I had,” he said. “Aside from everything that I had to go through with rehab, the beauty in it was being able to understand what I did in 2020 when I had my good outings, what I did (well) even in those bad outings and how I can can improve to where — in those longer innings where I give up a few runs — I can limit those.”
Romero started his current rehab assignment on June 14, returning to game action for the first time since his surgery. He made one appearance in the Florida Complex League, then four for Low-A Clearwater.
On Wednesday, the lefty made his first rehab outing in Reading. Romero looked a bit shaky, but ultimately powered through to record a six-out save, working around one run allowed and touching 97 mph.
“That was kind of the first real feel of getting back into a game,” Romero said. “I pitched a couple times down in Clearwater … and it still had that game feel, but it was still kind of like just getting my work in. To be here and to get on the mound again, it felt really good.”
Romero said he expects to stay with the Fightins through the weekend with a chance to move up to Triple-A Lehigh Valley next week. He can sense that he’s getting closer to full strength, but still needs a bit more time to be completely ready to go out of the bullpen on any given day.
Once he’s back on the typical relief schedule, Romero wants to show he can take down innings — and perhaps a few Red Bulls — the way he flashed early on.
“That’s the ultimate goal,” he said. “But I know I still have a few things to work on just to get better and to be ready for the opportunity to come.”
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