Sal Romano

Yankees Designate Asher Wojciechowski For Assignment, Select Sal Romano

By Steve Adams | July 22, 2021 at 3:01pm CDT

The Yankees announced Thursday that they’ve selected the contract of righty Sal Romano from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and cleared a spot on the active and 40-man rosters by designating right-hander Asher Wojciechowski for assignment.

Wojciechowski, 32, was selected to the roster just yesterday and started last night’s game for the Yanks, holding the Phillies to a pair of runs on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts in four innings. That’ll prove to be little more than a spot start for the well-traveled Wojciechowski, who must now be traded, released or placed on outright waivers within the next week.

The Yankees were Wojciechowski’s fourth big league club in seven years. He spent the 2019-20 campaigns with the Orioles and got out to a solid start in 2019 before struggling mightily during last year’s shortened schedule. Last night’s outing took Wojciechowski past the 200-inning mark in his MLB career, and he’s worked to a 5.93 ERA with a 21.5 percent strikeout rate and a 7.9 percent walk rate in that time. Home runs have been a problem for the former No. 41 overall pick, but he’s continued to find work as a depth option for situations much like this one. Wojciechowski owns a career 4.29 ERA in 647 1/3 innings of Triple-A ball.

In Romano, the Yankees are turning to another former Reds right-hander. The 27-year-old New York native was once considered one of the more promising arms in the Reds’ minor league ranks, but he’s struggled in several opportunities after a solid rookie showing back in 2017. Romano worked to a 4.45 ERA and 4.24 FIP in 87 innings as a rookie, but he’s been worked over for a 5.48 ERA/5.13 FIP in 184 innings since.

To his credit, Romano has consistently fared well in Triple-A — including in a relatively short look with the Yankees’ Scranton affiliate in 2021. He’s spent parts of three seasons at the Triple-A level and logged a combined 3.42 ERA in 142 frames. Romano’s 20.3 percent strikeout rate there is below average, but he’s also notched a solid 7.8 percent walk rate and a strong 49.8 percent ground-ball rate in that time.

Yankees Sign Sal Romano To Minor League Deal

By Anthony Franco | May 22, 2021 at 10:27pm CDT

The Yankees have signed right-hander Sal Romano to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, per an announcement from the RailRiders (Twitter link). He became a free agent earlier this week after being outrighted by the Reds.

Romano had pitched in fourteen games for Cincinnati this year, his most extensive MLB work since 2018. Over 20 2/3 relief innings, Romano pitched to a 5.23 ERA with a poor 13.2% strikeout rate and an average 9.9% walk percentage. The 27-year-old has never missed many bats, and he’s bottomed out in that regard this year; Romano’s 5.1% swinging strike rate is tied for 240th among 244 relievers with at least ten innings pitched. He also didn’t come out of the gates with his typical velocity; Romano has averaged 93.3 MPH on his sinker this season, down about two ticks from his previous levels.

Tough start aside, there’s little harm for the Yankees in bringing Romano in as a non-roster depth option. He has a solid 3.94 ERA in 118 2/3 career innings at Triple-A, where he’s struck out a more impressive 21.1% of opposing hitters. The Yankee bullpen has been among the league’s best, but New York remains without Zack Britton and Darren O’Day due to injury.

Reds Moves: Feliz, Romano

By Connor Byrne | May 17, 2021 at 3:17pm CDT

The Reds have added right-handed reliever Michael Feliz to their roster, Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets. They also optioned righty Art Warren to Triple-A Louisville. Meanwhile, righty Sal Romano has cleared waivers and elected free agency.

The 27-year-old Feliz became a Red on Friday when they claimed him off waivers from the division-rival Pirates. Feliz began the season well with 7 2/3 innings of three-run (two earned) ball with eight strikeouts against one walk, though he averaged a personal-worst 93.5 mph on his fastball along the way. Overall, Feliz has recorded a 5.07 ERA (with a far better 3.31 SIERA) in 234 1/3 major league innings.

Romano, whom the Reds designated for assignment to make room for Feliz, will now look for his second big league organization. He joined the Reds as a 23rd-round pick in 2011 and has since tossed 271 innings and amassed 83 appearances (41 starts) in the majors. The 27-year-old has logged a 5.15 ERA/4.82 SIERA in the bigs.

Reds Claim Michael Feliz, Designate Sal Romano For Assignment

By Steve Adams | May 14, 2021 at 1:36pm CDT

The Reds have claimed right-handed reliever Michael Feliz off waivers from the Pirates, per a club announcement. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Cincinnati designated righty Sal Romano for assignment.

Feliz, 27, was one of four players the Pirates acquired in the 2017 trade that sent Gerrit Cole to Houston. He came to the Bucs with a heater that averaged better than 96 mph and a 33.8 percent strikeout rate compiled between the 2016-17 seasons. Those numbers have all taken a step back since the trade.

Feliz posted a 3.99 ERA for the Pirates through 56 1/3 innings in 2019 — his best season in the big leagues to date. However, he was hampered by shoulder and forearm issues during his time in Pittsburgh, and his fastball was averaging a career-low 94.1 mph through 7 2/3 innings in 2021. He still posted an above-average 27.7 percent strikeout rate in Pittsburgh, but his walk rate rose a bit (to 10.6 percent) and Feliz was also quite homer-prone, serving up 18 long balls in 113 1/3 frames.

Overall, Feliz has pitched 234 1/3 innings in the Majors and has only a 5.07 ERA to show for it. Fielding-independent marks are more bullish on the righty (4.01 FIP, 3.31 SIERA), so the Reds will hope that a change of scenery will help him get on track and tap into the potential that once made him one of the Astros’ most promising farmhands. Feliz is out of minor league options, so he’ll immediately join the Reds’ bullpen and try to sort things out at the MLB level.

The 27-year-old Romano showed some promise as a rookie back in 2017, when he logged a 4.45 ERA through 16 starts (87 innings). He’s struggled through every big league opportunity he’s had since that time, working to a collective 5.48 ERA through 184 frames with a well below-average strikeout rate (16.3 percent) and roughly average marks in terms of grounder and walk rates (44.4 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively).

Like Feliz, Romano is out of options, meaning any club that claims him or acquires him in a trade would have to carry him on the big league roster. The Reds will have a week to see if there’s a team interested in acquiring him or to try to pass him through outright waivers.

Reds Place Sonny Gray On Injured List

By Anthony Franco | September 13, 2020 at 12:18pm CDT

The Reds have placed right-hander Sonny Gray on the 10-day injured list with a right mid-back strain, the team announced. Sal Romano has been selected to the roster in his stead. The IL placement is retroactive to Friday.

Gray has continued to shine in his second season in Cincinnati. Through 45.2 innings in nine starts, the right-hander has put up a 3.94 ERA/2.93 FIP with a career-best 30.6% strikeout rate. His 5.8 fWAR since the start of 2019 ranks thirteenth league-wide, a turnaround from a pair of down seasons with the Yankees. The Reds didn’t announce a timetable for his return, but there’s obviously not much time remaining for Gray to make it back in 2020. With just fifteen days left in the season, it’s possible this brings his campaign to an end. It’s certainly another blow to the 20-26 Reds’ faint hopes of mounting a playoff run.

The Reds waived the hard-throwing Romano over the winter, and he’ll now be making his first appearance on the MLB roster this season. Originally a starting pitcher, Romano moved to the Cincinnati bullpen full-time in 2019, where he put up a 7.71 ERA in 16.1 innings.

Reds Outright Sal Romano

By Steve Adams | February 11, 2020 at 7:10pm CDT

February 11: Romano cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Louisville, per the Reds.

February 5: The Reds announced Wednesday that they’ve designated right-hander Sal Romano for assignment. His removal from the 40-man roster opens a spot for righty Pedro Strop, whose previously reported one-year deal in Cincinnati is now official.

Romano, 26, has shown some promise with the Reds in the upper minors and turned in a solid, albeit unspectacular debut effort back in 2017 when he tossed 87 innings of 4.45 ERA ball (4.24 FIP). Romano averaged 7.6 K/9, 3.8 BB/9 and 0.93 HR/9 to go along with a strong 50.4 percent ground-ball rate in that rookie showing and looked like a potential back-end starter for what was then a still-rebuilding Reds club.

In the two years since that time, however, Romano’s results in the big leagues have cratered. He started 25 games in 2018 and made another 14 relief appearances but saw his ERA balloon to 5.31 as his strikeout rate (6.5 K/9), home-run rate (1.42 HR/9) and grounder rate (45.4 percent) went in the wrong direction. Romano did have some success in his 14 1/3 innings as a reliever that season, so the Reds tried him out as a full-time bullpen piece in 2019, but that experiment didn’t yield better results; Romano pitched to a 4.28 ERA in Triple-A and allowed 14 runs on 22 hits and eight walks in 16 1/3 big league innings (7.71 ERA).

The Reds will now have a week to trade Romano, release him or place him on outright waivers. He’s out of minor league options, so any team that acquires him will either need to carry him on the Opening Day roster or else designate him for assignment once again during Spring Training.

Reds Select Joel Kuhnel’s Contract

By Mark Polishuk | August 15, 2019 at 2:24pm CDT

The Reds have selected the contract of right-hander Joel Kuhnel from Triple-A Louisville, and also called up righty Matt Bowman from their top affiliate, the club announced (Twitter link). Kuhnel and Bowman will take the roster spots of righty Sal Romano, who was optioned to Louisville, and Jared Hughes, who was claimed off waivers by the Phillies.

This will be the 24-year-old Kuhnel’s first taste of the big leagues, coming a little over three years after being the Reds’ 11th-round pick in the 2016 draft. Kuhnel pitched in both Double-A and Triple-A for the first time in 2019, quickly moving up the ladder thanks to a combined 2.18 ERA, 8.4 K/9, and 3.13 K/BB rate over 53 2/3 relief innings. MLB.com ranks Kuhnel as the 24th-best prospect in Cincinnati’s farm system, noting that “his fastball touches triple-digits with ease and he mixes in an 89-93 mph slider and a low-90s changeup.”

Reds Designate David Hernandez

By Jeff Todd | August 9, 2019 at 2:47pm CDT

The Reds have designated veteran hurler David Hernandez, per a club announcement (h/t MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, on Twitter). He’ll be replaced on the active roster by fellow righty reliever Sal Romano.

For most of the season, Hernandez has underperformed in the results department while carrying sparkling strikeout-versus-walk numbers. Through the end of June, he owned a 46:11 K/BB ratio over 35 2/3 innings.

Things have gone south since late June, however. Over his past dozen appearances, Hernandez has allowed a whopping 22 earned runs on 23 base hits, including five home runs.

Hernandez does still carry a strong 14.7% swinging-strike rate for the season. But his struggles have coincided with a noticeable drop in his average four-seam fastball velocity.

While Hernandez is earning only $2.5MM this year, it’s a bit difficult to imagine the remainder of the contract being claimed given the depth of the issues of late. If he clears waivers, he would be eligible to keep his guarantee while still electing free agency and choosing another organization.

NL Roster/Health Notes: Taylor, Verdugo, Cecil, Romano, Kennedy

By Jeff Todd | March 15, 2019 at 12:15am CDT

The Nationals are suddenly facing a potential roster gap in the outfield, as Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com reports. Michael Taylor tweaked his knee today and is slated to be looked at more closely tomorrow. With Howie Kendrick also in limbo, both of the club’s right-handed-hitting reserve outfield pieces could be out of commission to open the season. Lefty hitter Andrew Stevenson is the only other 40-man outfielder. Perhaps there’s a chance that the Nats will look to the free agent market — Austin Jackson seems the closest match to Taylor as a right-handed-hitting center fielder — or consider claiming a late-spring roster casualty to boost their depth.

Here are a few more roster notes from around the game:

The Dodgers expect to carry Alex Verdugo on the MLB roster to open the year, manager Dave Roberts says (via Pedro Moura of The Athletic, on Twitter). After spending two seasons at Triple-A, where he owns a healthy .321/.389/.452 slash, Verdugo certainly deserves a shot. It remains to be seen how he and others will actually be utilized. As things stand, Joc Pederson and Cody Bellinger are also available as left-handed-hitting outfield options, though perhaps some roster tweaking could still occur.
Cardinals lefty Brett Cecil pitched in an instrasquad game today and threw more balls (15) than strikes (12) in his latest shaky outing, according to Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. This spring has been a trial for the veteran reliever, who’s still trying to find himself on the mound after losing a bunch of weight following a brutal 2018 season. Command and velocity are both problems at the moment, as Frederickson’s colleague Derrick Goold recently explored.
Right-hander Sal Romano, who has spent the vast majority of his career as a starter, will be converted into a relief role for the Reds moving forward, Bobby Nightengale Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. He’ll still be stretched out to the point where he can be relied upon for two- and three-inning relief appearances if needed, though. Unlike some other Reds roster hopefuls, Romano has a minor league option remaining, so it’s possible he’ll continue to acclimate to his new role at the Triple-A level before getting a look the big league ’pen. Romano, who turned 25 this offseason, has long rated as one of the more intriguing arms in the Cincinnati system but hasn’t found MLB success yet. In 232 2/3 innings, he’s mustered just a 4.99 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 — including a 5.31 ERA in 145 2/3 innings of work last year. Making it into the Reds’ rotation would’ve been challenging anyhow, as offseason acquisitions Sonny Gray, Alex Wood and Tanner Roark are expected to join holdovers Luis Castillo and Anthony DeSclafani to round out the starting five.
Padres right-hander Brett Kennedy has been diagnosed with a lat strain, per James Clark of the East Village Times (Twitter link). The expectation is that he’ll be sidelined for about a month. Kennedy, 24, scuffled last year in his first six MLB appearances and wasn’t expected to command a big league job out of camp. But he posted impressive results in 2018 at Triple-A, with 89 1/3 innings of 2.72 ERA ball over 16 starts, and is certainly part of the depth picture in San Diego.

Central Notes: Suarez, Mahle, Romano, Garrett, Kirby, Tigers

By Kyle Downing | March 17, 2018 at 10:02am CDT

Mark Sheldon of MLB.com posits that the Reds’ extension of Eugenio Suarez is a sign that the club is making an effort to keep a young core of players together for the foreseeable future, alongside potential future Hall-of-Famer Joey Votto. In the companion video, GM Dick Williams speaks highly of Suarez, particularly in regards to his defensive capabilities. “This is one of the premier defenders in the league,” says Williams. “At third base he’s established himself as one of the best young players in the league… he’s an offensive force, defensive force, leader in the clubhouse, say no more.” It’s interesting that Williams so specifically refers to Suarez as a third baseman, given the speculation that the former shortstop might slide back to his old position to make room for top prospect Nick Senzel. The GM’s comments seem to suggest the possibility that the destination of Senzel’s path to the majors isn’t the hot corner.

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