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Blue Jays fans aren't exactly confident with Romano as the team's closer

Adam Laskaris
Adam Laskaris
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Sep 27 2023, 3:50 pm
Blue Jays fans aren't exactly confident with Romano as the team's closer
John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports

In a week where the Toronto Blue Jays were expecting to be celebrating a playoff berth, they’re currently finding themselves still tinkering with key roster spots.

And questions are swirling about, again, one of the team’s key pieces — and if closer Jordan Romano is ready to be relied upon come playoff time.

Romano was named the team’s closer in the 2021 season and has made the All-Star game in each of the last two seasons. Since his first year as the full-time closer, Romano has picked up 95 saves, fourth in the MLB over that span.

But baseball is a “what-have-you-done-for-me-lately?” style sport, and Romano’s recent performances haven’t exactly been inspiring.

Over his last 10 appearances since September 4, Romano has a 5.40 ERA and 10 hits to go along with six earned runs across 10 innings pitched. It’s a small sample size over the course of a long season, but it’s also exactly the worst time of the year to not be exactly looking like yourself.

On Tuesday night, Romano was rocked in the ninth inning of a 0-0 game by an Austin Wells home run that gave the New York Yankees a 2-0 lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the bottom half. His appearance on Saturday didn’t go much better, giving up the loss in walk-off fashion in a 7-6 defeat to the Tampa Bay Rays after coming in with a 6-5 lead.

Romano’s been increasingly volatile in non-save situations this year, allowing five home runs to just one in save situations while also seeing his ERA balloon from 2.38 to 4.32, as per Sportsnet Stats.

Currently dealing with a fingernail issue, Romano might not exactly have his best stuff right now, although manager John Schneider is still publicly backing his pitcher.

“The life of a closer is tough and you have to have a very short-term memory,” Schneider told reporters Tuesday night. “You look at the result, it wasn’t ideal tonight or Saturday, but you look at the overall body of work and you look at the stuff and the stuff was there.”

But even if his manager has his back, Blue Jays fans aren’t exactly confident in Romano right now:

Sure, Toronto still has five games left to close out their season — and the possibility of finding themselves in the postseason as soon as tomorrow, should the right results go their way. But should they have any hope of a long postseason run, they’ll likely need Romano to find his form soon, or find someone else who can perform in high-leverage spots.

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