
DOWN: Fernando Romero
Remember how weird it was when the Twins announced that Fernando Romero wasn’t going to be in the rotation? When the Twins had made that announcement last January, it was a bizarre situation where many felt he was a better option than Michael Pineda or Martin Perez to man down a spot toward the back of the rotation.
Fast forward six months later and it’s apparent that Romero has a lot of work to do just to become a major league pitcher.
Romero’s latest stint came this week when he was called up prior to the Thursday afternoon matchup with the Mariners. In his second call-up with the team, Romero bombed for the second time, coming into Thursday’s game and failing to retire a batter. On the season, Romero has thrown eight innings where he has allowed seven earned runs and owns a WHIP of 2.12.
Things haven’t gotten much better at the minor league level for Romero as he’s logged 24.2 innings and compiled a 5.47 ERA, but a better 1.25 WHIP at Triple-A Rochester. So, what on earth is going on with Romero?
The good news here is that we know the talent is there and the lefty is still only 24 years old. The bad news is that the Twins bullpen needs help and it would help to have an electric arm like Romero’s out there, especially in late game situations. As it stands now, that appears to be a pipe dream and the best case scenario may be that Romero figures things out and is ready to roll in 2020.