'Intense' and 'focused' Romano locked in

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Jordan Romano that debuted for the Blue Jays back in 2019 and the Romano you see today are two entirely different pitchers.

One was a laid-back starter-turned-reliever who’d just been returned to the Blue Jays after being selected in the Rule 5 Draft prior to the ’19 season. Talented, certainly, but that 2019 version of Romano was still a hypothetical. Maybe a move to the bullpen would help, but “maybe” rarely gets you far in baseball.

Jump ahead to today, and that’s long gone. Now one of baseball’s best relievers, he’s replaced the clean shave with one of baseball’s biggest beards, which just adds to the image when he trots out of the bullpen to Black Sabbath's "War Pigs." He’s still laid back when the situation calls for it, but once he smells an appearance coming down the line, you’ll see Romano pacing back and forth in the bullpen with all the intensity of a boxer waiting at the end of the tunnel for his entrance music to ring out over the speakers.

“During Summer Camp last year, I started noticing that if I got locked in a little bit earlier for my outing, it would go a bit better,” Romano said. “I would feel more crisp out there and feel a little more focused. That’s just kind of what I’m doing this year from the fifth inning on. That’s when I like to lock it in. There’s about an hour until I pitch to think about who I’m facing, what kind of pitches I want to make.”

Once Romano reaches the mound, you’ll see his trademark squat between each pitch before he leans in to glare at the glove. He has, in every way, embraced the attitude of a back-end reliever, which comes with a bit of chaotic energy.

Romano looks right at home in this part of his personality.

“I think I’m a little bit more intense,” Romano said, stating the obvious. “I feel like I have to pitch that way. It keeps me locked in. The situations I’m going into, the game is on the line more times than it’s not. I’m pretty intense, I’m pretty focused and I feel like that gives me the best chance out there.”

The physical changes have been just as important, of course. Romano’s fastball is averaging 97 mph this season alongside a slider that pitching coach Pete Walker has called “devastating.” He’s felt even better about his fastball this season, which he’s been using more aggressively, and his new approach to strength and nutrition is aimed at sustaining that.

“Now, I have a more locked-in routine being strictly a reliever,” Romano explained. “I have the days I like to work out on now. It’s twice a week. Before, I was trying to juggle when I felt good. It’s so unpredictable now when I’m going to be throwing and I could be throwing a lot, so I have set days when I work out. I also know how my body responds when my body gets good sleep. It’s a 24-hour-a-day thing.”

We may not talk about sleep all that often in day-to-day baseball coverage, but teams are certainly focusing on it. Romano has started taking a sleep aid recommended by the club’s nutrition staff and says it’s gotten him an extra hour or two of sleep each night compared to when he broke in back in 2019. Add in this new openness to adapting his plan around outings, and it’s working.

Romano missed some time earlier this season with right ulnar neuritis, but has otherwise been locked in as the club’s steadiest healthy, high-leverage arm. The 28-year-old owns a 1.83 ERA over 19 2/3 innings with 26 strikeouts, but if there’s one thing he needs to tidy up over the summer, it’s walks. Romano has been able to cover many of those up by striking out the next batter, but that represents the line for him between very good and downright dominant.

“I want to throw more strikes,” Romano said. “The first couple weeks, I was walking too many guys and not being as aggressive as I wanted to. I got back to that. The last outing was kind of the same deal, but I want to be more aggressive in the zone.”

This bullpen is without Kirby Yates, the presumed closer entering the year, and David Phelps, who Romano called the glue of the bullpen, for the season. They’re also without Julian Merryweather and Ryan Borucki currently, both of whom were pitching in high-leverage spots, so there’s been plenty of responsibility placed on Romano. He’s shouldering it well, and in a much different way than he would have two years ago.