Phillies have a Jordan Romano problem late in games. Where do they go now?
Faced with a decision to preserve a two-run lead in the seventh inning of Sunday's series finale against the Dodgers, Phillies manager Rob Thomson made a surprising move.
With Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts due up in the inning, out came Jordan Romano over Orion Kerkering to pitch.
Through the first week-and-a-half, the Phillies have been using Kerkering in a seventh-inning role and saving Romano for higher-leverage situations. That changed Sunday, even if facing Ohtani and Betts could be considered a higher-leverage situation, no matter the score.
"I was saving Kerkering for the end of the game," Thomson said. "Toward the end, it was either going to be (José) Alvarado for Kerkering in the eighth or the ninth, depending on the pocket."
Thomson was banking on the Phillies facing Ohtani and Betts again — and he was right. He had to use Kerkering much earlier than he wanted to, after Romano couldn't get an out.
Romano allowed an Andy Pages single, walked Ohtani and gave up a double to Betts before Thomson gave him a quick axe for the game. Romano faced three batters, tossed 13 pitches, allowed two hits, a walk, a run, and recorded no outs.
That sequence was a microcosm of Romano's start in a Phillies uniform. Through five appearances, Romano has allowed seven earned runs in four innings with a 15.75 ERA. He's struck out six and walked four.
This is the pitcher the Phillies signed to a one-year, $8.5 million contract in December to pitch in the back end of the bullpen and be the closer in certain situations. There are much bigger concerns than Romano's inability to get outs.
"Just the velocity," Thomson said. "It's something we gotta check into. There's no red flags, [the arm] feels fine. I don't know if it's kind of a dead arm issue or what, but it concerns me a little bit."
Romano's average fastball velocity for his career is 96.8 mph. That fastball Sunday didn't go faster than 94.1 mph.
"I feel fine physically," Romano said. "I'm not sure. I'm trying to throw a good heater, and it's just not, it wasn't there today."
How will the Phillies tackle the Jordan Romano problem?
Thomson tipped his hand on how the back end of the bullpen will go for the time being. Saving Kerkering for the later innings over Romano is the play for now, which Kerkering has earned based on how he's started the season.
Kerkering hasn't allowed a run in his four appearances, striking out three and walking one in 3 2/3 innings. He allowed four hits, but two were balls in no-man's land in the season opener in Washington (a jam Kerkering got out of).
Kerkering inherited Romano's mess Sunday, entering a one-run game with runners on second and third with no outs. He did the best he could to minimize the damage, getting a fly-out to center and a sacrifice fly to right field before Will Smith doubled to put the Dodgers up a run.
The Phillies believe Kerkering can be that high-leverage reliever for them in 2025. That time may be now, as Kerkering has pitched well enough to get the call in the later innings over Romano. This is a short-term solution for what could be a bigger problem if Romano can't get his issues worked out.
"He's got a long track record of success," Thomson said. "So we gotta make sure we stay with him, and have confidence in him. We got to push him."
