Not much went right for the Philadelphia Phillies in their disheartening blowout loss to the New York Mets on Monday at Citi Field. Trailing 6-3 in the seventh inning, they called upon Jordan Romano to pitch, and it went exactly as every Phillies fan expected. Romano did his best to put the game out of reach, allowing four earned runs including a three-run home run.
It's just mind-numbing that Romano still has a job on the roster of a World Series-hopeful club like the Phillies. If they're truly serious about finally winning it all, they must cut ties with their disastrous free agent signing before it's too late. Phillies fans now have the luxury of not watching him pitch for their team for a little bit, although it's not the Romano news they were wishing for.
Jordan Romano placed on IL after latest blowup which has to be last straw for his Phillies career
Less than 24 hours after his seventh appearance allowing three runs or more, Romano was placed on the 15-day IL with right middle finger inflammation in a bullpen shakeup that saw Joe Ross get released and Lou Trivino and Daniel Robert added to the active roster. Ross also got shelled in the series opener to the tune of three earned runs, so dumping him and his 5.12 ERA is a great start. However, the fact that Romano is still a Phillie past Monday is outrageous.
Romano's season-long struggles have made his role in the bullpen a puzzling one. His inability to be an effective reliever at any stage of the game has caused him to be used less and less. His last outing before the stinker against the Mets was exactly a week prior, giving him extra rest for the Mets series. That rest obviously didn't help, and it appears that Romano is clearly a lost cause at this point.
The Phillies knew that there could be red flags when they signed Romano to a one-year, $8.5 million contract this past offseason. The former two-time All-Star had battled with injuries in 2024 and struggled mightily when healthy. In only 13 2/3 innings pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays, Romano allowed 10 earned runs for an ERA of 6.59.
That was the worst season Romano had experienced as a big leaguer, only to be outdone by his horrific 2025. Romano has alarmingly appeared in 49 games for the Phillies and has recorded a 8.23 ERA that reaches a mark of futility for Phillies pitchers that hasn't been seen in nearly a century.
Jordan Romano now has a 8.23 ERA in 42 2/3 innings. It's the highest mark for a Phillies pitcher with 40+ IP since Reggie Grabowski's 9.23 in 1934.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) August 26, 2025
Romano's ERA has hovered over 6.00 just about all season and has skyrocketed up thanks to his 21.95 ERA this month. At this point, you honestly start to feel bad for Romano as a person. He clearly doesn't have MLB-caliber stuff anymore, and both he and the Phillies would be better off going their separate ways.
That's what the organization has done in the past with failed free agent relievers, notably with the veteran righty Jeurys Familia just a few seasons ago in 2022. Familia was signed for slightly less at one-year, $6 million and his awful 6.09 ERA over 44 1/3 innings that year is still better than Romano's in 2025. The Phillies knew they should cut ties with Familia when they DFA'd him after the trade deadline. So what's their infatuation with keeping Romano on the team, especially when they have a much better bullpen now than they did then?
The Phillies find themselves five games ahead of the Mets in first place heading into Wednesday but still have five remaining games against them. Including the postseason, the Phillies have lost nine straight games at Citi Field and 23 out of 29 overall. They need every advantage they can get against the pesky Mets, and although Romano remains with the team, adding Trivino and Robert is at least a start.