Jordan “don’t call me Ray” Romano has come from out of nowhere to be one of the most dominant set up men in baseball, featuring just a two-pitch mix, with both pitches grading out as plus. His fastball is up 2 MPH this season to 97 MPH, while his slider is also up 4 MPH, and now both are a serious problem for opposing hitters.
While last season Romano threw his fastball 64% and his slider 36% of the time, this year he has flipped the script, featuring his slider as his primary offering at 61% and his fastball at 39%. The work backwards approach has worked wonders for Romano, as both pitches have a Whiff rate over 42% and his fastball even has a 50% PutAway rate.
If Ken Giles were to have a setback in his rehab, I would without a doubt expect Romano to close out games for the Blue Jays at some point this season as he is the far superior talent to Anthony Bass. It may not be this season, but look for Romano to open next year as the Jays closer should they fail to re-sign Giles this offseason or bring in any other bullpen talent.
Notes
- The Scott Barlow and Trevor Rosenthal rankings may be surprising, but I’m a bigger believer in Barlow at the moment than Rosenthal. Sure Rosenthal’s stuff is back and he looks like his 2017 self, but Barlow is picking up where he left off just last season and is the safer option at this point.
- I think it’s safe to say that Freddy Peralta’s best role is that of a multi-inning reliever/stopper. After struggling in his first start, Peralta has racked up 14 K’s to 2 BB’s over his next two relief appearances, and while he only has one hold to his name, the Brewers bullpen could desperately use his talents in more hold situations.
- Will Harris was activated from IL yesterday but did not see any game action. It’ll be interesting to see how Harris is used with Daniel Hudson, Tanner Rainey, and Javy Guerra all throwing well, but my early guess would be that Guerra gets bumped out of a setup role.
- Keone Kela also returned from the IL yesterday, seeing an inning of work that saw mixed results. His velocity was fine, even up a bit from last year and he should have no trouble maintaining the closer role in Pittsburgh for the rest of the season.
- Despite just returning from the IL last week, Rafael Montero led the league in SV+HD’s this past week with 4 total, all being saves. In 4 games Montero has yet to allow a baserunner while striking out 4. Another week like this and expect to see him near the top of tier 2.
Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire | Adapted by Justin Paradis (@freshmeatcomm on Twitter)
