The Blue Jays announced that closer Jordan Romano has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his right elbow. Left-hander Brendon Little was called up from Triple-A Buffalo to take Romano’s spot on the active roster.
This is the second time this season that Romano has been sidelined with elbow inflammation, as his first stint on the injured list delayed his 2024 debut until April 16. The results in between those two IL stints have been very shaky, as Romano has a 6.59 ERA over 13 2/3 innings. Romano’s 21% strikeout rate is far below the career 30.5K% he took into the season, and batters have been absolutely teeing off on Romano to the tune of a 50% hard-hit ball rate. The right-hander has also allowed four homers over his small sample size of 13 1/3 frames, after giving up 10 homers total over 123 innings in 2022-23.
In short, Romano simply hasn’t looked right all season, whether that was due to any lingering elbow problems or more underlying issues. Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) that Romano’s MRI came back clean, so it doesn’t seem to be a case of any structural damage that could threaten Romano’s season. It could be that this 15-day absence might be a bit of reset just to get Romano entirely healthy and mechanically fine, or the Blue Jays could keep him out for longer than 15 days just to fully ensure that Romano’s inflammation woes are behind him.
If the Jays can’t turn things around from their underwhelming 27-29 start, Romano (if healthy) is one of many names on the roster that could be speculative trade candidates come the deadline. Romano has one remaining year of arbitration eligibility before hitting free agency after the 2025 season, and this extra year of control could make him an attractive asset for teams in need of bullpen help. Naturally that would require Romano to return to action relatively soon, and for him to display both good health and a form more akin to his 2020-23 form.
While Toronto’s struggling offense has taken most of the heat for the club’s 27-29 start, the relief corps has also been a major issue. The Blue Jays’ 4.60 bullpen ERA ranks 26th of 30 teams, as Yimi Garcia has been the only consistently reliable option amidst the other set of struggling relievers, with Romano the face of these struggles given his status as closer. Unsurprisingly, Schneider said that Garcia will probably get most of the save situations while Romano is out, with Chad Green also factoring into the closer mix now that Green is back from his own stint on the IL.
And that might be the last u saw of Romano for a while. Prob TJ . Bad luck heal up man
Sharing closer duties? Garcia and Green?
Time to put Joey in the everyday lineup. NOW.
Except by his own admission Votto is not ready.
Votto is day to day – since about March 20th.
Put him in the lineup NOW.
When you consider Romano has either been on the IL or getting lit up, the offense running on 2 or 3 cylinders most of the time, and just about every other aspect of their game is off in one way or another, it’s amazing the Jays record is as good as it is. Big decisions coming for the FO over the next 2 months. And it may be time for big changes in the FO itself.
Im a jays fan and i want it blowen up, Vlad isnt worth 300/10 especially as a 1b/dh, I love Bo but just dont see him signing, Jansen is a top tier Catcher with the bat and average with the glove and he is in his walk year so why resign and just about everything else on the team is a free agent by next off season. Trading Vlad, Bo, Jansen, Jimi Garcia and Kikuchi this deadline would really kick start a rebuild. The farm isnt great but the AAA squad is good this year and by targeting close to mlb ready players to go with them the team could still be in the WC hunt in 2-3 years. The difference in trading Vlad and BO ant 1.5 years on control left versus half a sean next year is huge however with payroll being record levels this and last season aswell as the massive stadium upgrades the past 2 years on top of making Dunedin an elite training center ownership is counting on high attendance and playoff games in the next 1.5 years; I just don’t see it happening. I think Click should be given the reigns and see where he takes us as he did a great job in Huston
I agree that the blowup is the right plan except not to be done by Shapiro, Atkins and Click.
I’d add Berrios and Varsho. Trade at the high mark. Non tender Biggio after the season. If Manoah returns and pitches effectively, deal him too. Let Barger, Orelvis and whoever is playing well in AAA get at bats to audition for 2025.
Drafting must be better.
Drop in velocity and more use of the slider. Makes sense he’s on the IL. He’s important to the Jays bullpen. They need him back.
Slider is killing Romano’s elbow. Same with Manoah.
But of course..
Hey SHATKINS where’s the waves of talent coming up from the farm system ?? Just SLUGS from here on in now ??
Nobody believes one word coming out of your 2 lieing mouths…Time To GO !!