Blue Jays: Jordan Romano proving that he belongs

Toronto Blue Jays reliever Jordan Romano is proving he belongs following an unprecedented path back to the team that drafted him in the 10th round of the 2014 amateur draft.

Jordan Romano was plucked in the Rule 5 draft by the Chicago White Sox this past spring, the pale hose then immediately shipped him to the Texas Rangers. Romano would spend the spring in camp with the Rangers before being returned to the Blue Jays at the end of March.

The 26-year old would spend the beginning of the 2019 campaign with the Buffalo Bisons before finally getting the call-up to the big club in June. The Canadian hurler took it on the chin last night surrendering a walk-off homer to Christian Vazquez in the 10 inning versus the Red Sox.

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However, the ill-fated homer came after Romano had fanned five Red Sox batters including J.D. Martinez on a steady diet of high 90’s fastballs. Although Romano has been touched up by Vazquez and Justin Upton, the rookie has fanned 11 batters in 5.1 innings including making short work of Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani during the Angels series.

Romano has back of the rotation stuff touching 97 with his fastball complemented by a mid 80’s slider. The Markham native has the ability to pitch in the rotation having started 69 of his 99 contests in the minors throughout his professional career.

This season with Buffalo, Romano made only three starts in 17 games as the team seemed content having him close out games. The right-hander closed out seven games in Triple-A earning four saves before his promotion.

The rookie owns a career 3.52 earned run average over five minor league seasons on the Jays farm. Romano will undoubtedly get a long look and could end up being a bright spot in the Blue Jays bullpen moving forward for manager Charlie Montoyo.