The Philadelphia Phillies have started the season on the right track. They are 13-8, and sit just one game back from the New York Mets in the National League East.
This weekend, the Phillies are hosting the Miami Marlins for a three-game series. They were able to win game one, 7-2, after putting up six runs in thirst two innings. However, Saturday’s game gave the home crowd a little bit more excitement.
Philadelphia started the scoring by putting up four runs in the third inning. After the fifth, the Phillies held a 9-1 lead. The team entered the ninth with a comfortable 11-4 lead. With that lead, manager Rob Thompson decided to hand the ball to their big-name signing, Jordan Romano.
Romano entered the game with 9.00 ERA in 7.0 innings pitched. He has not been himself this season, and the Philly faithful have been getting more and more impatient.
Saturday put the fans over the edge and made them turn on the right-hander.
Romano recorded just two outs in the game, allowed six hits and he gave up six earned runs. Dane Myers and Liam Hicks both hit their first home runs of the season off the reliever. Hicks’ homer happened to be the first of his career.
When the 31-year-old was relieved from the game, he was boo’d off the field. Per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com, it was the first time in his career that Romano allowed more than three runs in an outing.
Jordan Romano is showered with boos as he leaves the game in the ninth inning. He allowed six runs in 2/3 inning.
He had never allowed more than three runs in a game in his career.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) April 19, 2025
He had three scoreless outings in a row heading into this game, but he took two steps back with this appearance. Teams are now hitting .382 off Romano with three home runs.
On the season as a whole, Romano is in just the eighth percentile in chase rate and 20th percentile in walk rate.
His stats do suggest he is getting a bit unlucky, though.
The former 10th-round pick has an expected opponent batting average of just .225, and an expected ERA of 4.07. Both of those numbers are significantly lower than his real stats. Additionally, Romano has allowed a low average exit velocity, a low hard-hit percentage and a low barrel percentage.
Still, he is not having a great season, and he seems to be in trouble every time he takes the mound. In fact, he has allowed at least one baserunner in seven of his nine outings. He has also allowed runs in four of his nine appearances.
Romano has shown signs of improvement this year, but he remains inconsistent. If he can find some consistency, Philadelphia will have a shutdown bullpen arm they can turn to. For now, that is not the case.
