Word broke Sunday that the Tampa Bay Rays would be promoting highly touted right-handed pitching prospect, Tommy Romero, to the big-league squad — he is set to make his debut on Tuesday. In a corresponding move, left-hander Ryan Yarbrough has been placed on the 10-day Injured List with a minor groin injury, retroactive to April 8.
While it was initially thought that Romero’s stay might not be long, given that Yarbrough is expected to stay on the IL for a minimal amount of time, with Luis Patiño headed to the IL with a left oblique strain, his stay could be longer than a cup of coffee.
Romero, 24, is one of many promising arms on their way to contributing to the Rays this season. He was the 18th-ranked prospect in the system according to MLB.com, and the 21st by Baseball America.
Tampa Bay acquired Romero from the Mariners in 2018 when they traded Denard Span and Alex Colome in May of that season. After a pair of dominant stints in Double-A (39.3% K%) and Triple-A (29.3% K%), including a 2.61 ERA across 110 1/3 innings, he is poised to make an impact on the team sooner rather than later.
Romero has an extreme over-the-the-top arm slot which allows him to throw a great backspin “rising” fastball which sits between 92-and-94 mph and rides at the top of the zone and is comparable to Nick Anderson and JP Feyereisen’s fastball. Beyond that, his much improved secondary pitches, mainly his curveball and changeup (both of which grade at 50 out of 55) drop vertically and play well off his fastball.
The right-hander avoids beating himself by pumping strikes and hitting his spots. Because of it, he boasted a 4.68 K/BB rate between two levels last season, which was the best of his career. He also allowed just two earned runs in his last 35 innings of work. Overall, Romero dominated Triple-Batters to the tune of a 3.18 ERA and a 3.68 FIP with a 0.96 WHIP and a 3.33 K/BB thanks to an 10.11 K/9.
Pending the grade of Patiño’s oblique strain, which could shelve him anywhere from two weeks to a month, we should expect to get a pretty good look at Romero, be that as a starter or in the bulk role.