Deep trouble for Ricky Romero

[LittleOzzy]

Which Ricky Romero is the real deal?

Is it the Romero who opened the season going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA in his first three starts for the Blue Jays?

Or, is it the Romero who has made two poor outings since coming off the disabled list with a strained oblique?

In his first start back, against Baltimore last week, the rookie left-hander allowed five earned runs on 11 hits -- including three home runs -- in the Jays' 7-2 loss to the Orioles.

Yesterday was just as bleak.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Baseball/MLB/ ... 1-sun.html

[Mustard_Tiger]

IMO, the first 3 starts were an aberration. His minor league track record didn't indicate he was that good a pitcher, and now he is struggling with his control, which is normal for him.

[tsherkin]

And this is the guy you wanted to be a starter now over Scott Richmond? Or did you believe that Romero has the potential to develop to a point where, when he's better than he is now, he'll be worth our time?

[Mustard_Tiger]

I've never believed in the future success of Ricky Romero, so I don't know where that is coming from. He really has no minor league track record, and was promoted based on a few good starts in spring training. He could be a decent pitcher at some point in the future, he has good stuff, but he is going to have to work on his control issues.

What I did say was that Richmond would be dropped when all 3 of the pitchers came back (Janssen, Romero, and Litsch). As it turned out, only 2 have come back (Litsch has been delayed far longer than anybody expected), and Richmond was skipped in the rotation because of it (wrongfully, imo, the Jays could have used Scott against the Red Sox's righties on Sunday, instead of Romero). Long term, I don't see a place for Richmond as a starter on this team, but it is starting to look like he could keep a job all year if he pitches well enough.

[tsherkin]

Scottie may not be an answer going forward but this year it certainly looks like he's going to get the chance to prove it. But yeah, when we were talking you were saying that you expected Richmond to be pushed aside in favor of Romero, hence my comment (which was a touch snarkier than intended, so my apologies).

Litsch's return should be interesting; he's like a crappy version of Marcum, though, lacking velocity and electric stuff and relying on hitting his spots, so it'll be nice to see if he can get back to where he was before, because he was pitching pretty well for a while. Janssen has looked pretty bad, but it's a small sample, but frankly I'm inclined to stuff him in the pen for a while and see how he does while he works on his command.

[Mustard_Tiger]

Scottie may not be an answer going forward but this year it certainly looks like he's going to get the chance to prove it. But yeah, when we were talking you were saying that you expected Richmond to be pushed aside in favor of Romero, hence my comment (which was a touch snarkier than intended, so my apologies).

Well he was pushed aside for him, but I've never thought he should have been.


Litsch is a proven innings eater and above average pitcher. They are missing his presence greatly.

[tsherkin]

Well he was pushed aside for him, but I've never thought he should have been.

Fair enough. I think we're seeing from the way Ray, Cecil, Romero and Janssen have pitched than none of them are really ready to replace what Richmond's giving us now. Going forward, pretty much all of them have the stuff to maybe replace him (Janssen as soon as he learns to locate the damned ball DOWN), but not just yet.

Litsch is a proven innings eater and above average pitcher. They are missing his presence greatly.

As long as he pitches like he did the two years before this one, certainly. He's good for 6 innings most nights and that's a big help.