This story was excerpted from John Denton’s Cardinals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Glance out to the Cardinals bullpen, and when you see lefty reliever JoJo Romero slowly sipping on a Red Bull and calmly disposing of the can in a trash receptacle, you can fully understand just how far he’s come in terms of maturity and mentality.

Back in 2020, Romero became something of a phenomenon in Philadelphia by quickly guzzling an energy drink and then crushing the can on his forearm before entering the game. It looked like something straight out of WWE, and at the time it helped calm the young reliever’s overwhelming jitters. 

“It started with my [MLB] debut,” Romero recalled, referring to the Aug. 21, 2020, game he closed in Atlanta during an 11-2 Phillies loss. “I was so nervous, and I think with my first three or four throws [in the bullpen] I didn’t even hit the catcher. It was the COVID year, so no one was even there to see it, thankfully.

“After that I had a Red Bull to kind of fire myself up before going in and I just [smashed the can on his arm] and didn’t think anything of it. But then, when I struck out the side, my teammates told me, ‘You know, you’ve got to do that every time now, right?’ So, it carried on from there.”

That night, fueled by the energy drink and the adrenaline coursing through his veins, Romero fanned Adam Duvall, superstar slugger Austin Riley and Johan Camargo in succession. Then struggles followed Reyes for much of 2020, 2021 and early in 2022 before he was dealt to the Cardinals for utility infielder Edmundo Sosa. Now, 26 years old and eight years into his professional career, Romero is finally crushing the competition instead of cans.

From almost out of nowhere, Romero has emerged from a bullpen bedeviled by ineffectiveness (21 blown saves) and beset by recent trade losses (Jordan Hicks, Génesis Cabrera and Chris Stratton). Over his last 10 outings, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Romero has his first MLB win, his first MLB save and a 2.84 ERA. More importantly, he has fanned 18 hitters while only walking one over 12 2/3 innings pitched.        

“He’s stepped into that role and pitched extremely well,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol, who got a scoreless eighth inning out of Romero in Wednesday’s win against the Rays. “When you think back to when we were playing the White Sox [July 7-9], it was the first time we inserted him into that leverage situation, and he’s taken it and he’s running with it. He’s pitching with confidence, he’s got a great mentality and he’s got the stuff for you. It’s been great watching it.”

You wouldn’t know it with his can-crushing antics and the way he now oozes confidence out of his every pore, but this is the first time Romero has ever been in a role similar to that of a closer. At Nevada-Reno and early in his MLB career, he was either a starter or a middle reliever.  

“The biggest thing is confidence, whether you are coming in for multiple innings in the sixth and seventh or in high-leverage spots in the eighth or ninth,” Romero said. “The consistency of the approach is what helps you get the results that you want.”

As for those Red Bull cans, Romero is more focused now on the results instead of the zany antics from earlier in his career.

“I still have my Red Bulls before going in, but I don’t really [crush the cans anymore],” he said with a big smile. “I’ll do it from time to time, but it’s mostly just for fun now.”