It hasn't been a storybook beginning to Jordan Romano's career in the Philadelphia Phillies' bullpen. In fact, it has been far from it.
On Sunday, Romano had another meltdown in front of his new home fans at Citizens Bank Park. He came into the game in the seventh inning, charged with holding a 6-4 lead. With the Phillies nine outs away from sending the big, bad Los Angeles Dodgers packing with their first series loss of the season, the stakes were high.
Unlike Romano's gut-wrenching outing on Friday that ended in a save for the 31-year-old and a win for the Phillies, Sunday's performance, didn't end so well for Romano.
He was out of sync, with another drop in velocity that the Dodgers took advantage of. After a single, a walk and a double, Phillies manager Rob Thomson gave Romano the quick hook. The damage was done, however. The Dodgers took the lead 7-6, erasing a once healthy four-run lead, and Romano was charged with three runs without recording an out during the excruciating performance, one Phillies fans likely watched through their hands.
The only thing more concerning than Jordan Romano’s meltdowns is the Phillies' lack of answers
Romano has now allowed at least two runs in three of his five appearances, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman. He carries a 15.75 ERA and 2.50 WHIP, with six strikeouts but four walks in four innings.
As concerning as Romano's early-season struggles have been, the Phillies' lack of answers after their 8-7 comeback win is even more concerning. Speaking to reporters from his locker after the game, Romano was at a loss to find a reason for the drop in velocity.
"Usually, I'm used to just kind of being 96 [mph], around there the whole time," Romano said after the game. "I don't know what's going on right now, but I need to figure that out for sure."
His velocity has been a rollercoaster in the early going. During his blown save on Opening Day, his fastball velocity was down a bit from spring training, sitting at 94.9 mph. It picked back up in his next two outings, sitting at 96.5 and 96.2 mph.
But then came the drop.
He sat 93.7 mph on Friday and 93.5 mph on Sunday. Even his slider dipped almost 1.5 mph on Friday.
"I'm not too sure," Romano said about why his velocity has dropped off again. "It's one thing I've just got to figure out. I've got to get the velo up, cause when the velo's right it helps the slider too. When the velo's down, it's easier to take the slider. ... It could be [mechanical], I'm going to look at some video, really dive in and try to figure this out really quick."
Jordan Romano says he does not know what’s going on right now. He says he will look at film of his mechanics. And he says he has to get his Velo up. pic.twitter.com/s7ysR4mImS
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) April 6, 2025
It's not exactly reassuring when the player having the problems has no idea why he's struggling.
But the manager must surely have some insight into why his newest bullpen "weapon" is having problems with his velocity. Right?
Not quite.
"[The velocity] is something we've got to check into, because everything out of the training room, there's no red flags, [he] feels fine," Thomson said during his postgame press conference. "I don't know whether it's kind of a dead arm issue or what. It concerns me a little bit, the velocity's down. ... But he says he's fine. He's got a long track record of success, so we got to, to a certain degree, stay with him and have confidence in him and keep pushing him."
The Phillies' gamble on Jordan Romano doesn't look good early
The Phillies took an educated gamble by signing Romano to a one-year, $8.5 million contract this offseason after his 2024 was derailed by elbow problems. As long as he was healthy, the Phillies figured there's no reason he couldn't be as good as he was when he was an All-Star for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 and 2023.
It seems like he's healthy. Unfortunately for the Phillies, the gamble isn't paying off — yet. It's still very early, and there's every chance that Romano figures things out and makes everyone forget his first week in a Phillies uniform.
As for Romano's place in the bullpen moving forward, Thomson wouldn't elaborate on how he plans to use the right-hander. When asked whether Romano might be used in some low-leverage spots, Thomson was non-committal, just leaving everyone with a, "We'll see."
All the Phillies can do at this point, as long as he is healthy, is keep running Romano out there while working in the background to address the problem. Hopefully the next time we see him on the mound, the game isn't on the line.
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