Philadelphia Phillies lefty looks ready to return from Tommy John surgery

Phillies LHP JoJo Romero looks ready to go, less than a year since his surgery.

After a promising rookie showing in 2020, left-handed Philadelphia Phillies reliever JoJo Romero appeared in just 11 games in the earlier parts of last season.

His final appearance was a fifth-inning stint opposite the Milwaukee Brewers, home on May 5. The California native retired just one of his four batters faced, yielding two singles and a walk spanning 20 total pitches. His pitches noticeably showed diminishing velocity.

The following afternoon, the Phillies placed Romero on the 10-day injured list with a left elbow sprain. About two weeks later, the lefty was transferred to the 60-day injured list before eventually undergoing a successful Tommy John surgery in late May.

For pitchers, it usually takes one full calendar year — at the minimum — before they ramp up their throwing routine. Romero has been hard at work this offseason, and just might return much sooner than expected. In a recent social media post, the 25-year-old is shown throwing at a high velocity just nine months removed from his surgery.

Romero’s 7.32 career ERA in the majors is slightly deceiving, as a few bad outings have skyrocketed the figure. During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Romero started his career with four straight scoreless appearances and only allowed three earned runs through his first nine outings. Then came a pair of bad, outlier outings in doubleheader contests — which rose his ERA from 2.89 to 7.84.

For the Phillies to be successful in 2022 — and hopefully return to the postseason for the first time in 11 years — the team will need players like Romero to make an impact. While spring training has yet to begin, it appears as though the left-hander will be available for more of the upcoming season than we first thought.