Jordan Romano

Romano racked up 36 saves for the second consecutive year. It wasn't always pretty, as his 1.22 WHIP was his worst since his rookie season, but the right-hander remained effective in closing out games for Toronto. In fact, he set a Blue Jays franchise record with 26 successful conversions in a row. Romano maintained a 96.7 mph average fastball velocity that was in the 90th percentile despite dealing with lower back inflammation near mid-season, an injury that forced him from the All-Star Game after just five pitches, then subsequently resurfaced a few weeks later. Romano was able to return after a near-minimum IL stint, but he wasn't as sharp down the stretch, walking nine batters over his final 17 innings. He finished the season with a below-average 9.7% walk rate, but actually improved his strikeout percentage (29%), swinging strike rate (17%) and whiff percentage (35.9%). There's still a lot to like in Romano's profile to safely project him for another 30-plus saves in 2024.

Romano established himself as a reliable, top-end closer in 2022, recording 78.3% of Toronto's saves, which was the fourth-highest percentage among all relievers. His 36 saves tied for fourth in the league, while his 64 innings in 63 appearances were also career highs. Romano posted a career best walk rate (8.1%), though his strikeout rate dipped 5.3 percentage points to a still above-average 28.3%. Interestingly, Romano reversed his pitch usage for the fourth straight year, throwing his fastball (48% pitch usage) far less often than he did in 2021. This is notable since Romano's heater has been more effective than his slider in recent seasons. He did lose some velocity on the fastball, but still averaged 96.9 mph, which was in the 92nd percentile. The Blue Jays retained John Schneider as their manager, who has relied on Romano heavily since taking over. Expect another season with 30-plus saves.

After his 2020 breakout in high-leverage, Romano was the favorite to break camp as Toronto's closer after Kirby Yates underwent Tommy John surgery in late-March. However, it was Julian Merryweather who earned the first two saves for the Blue Jays. Injuries to Merryweather and Rafael Dolis eventually forced Toronto to use Romano in the ninth and he'd carry the closer role for the rest of the season after picking up his first save in late May. He went 23-for-24 in save chances overall while posting a 2.14 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 33.6 K%. His fastball velocity (98-mph) spiked again and his 23.7 K-BB% ranked 21st among qualified relievers. Romano proved he can handle the closing duties quite well, but his 2022 role depends on Toronto's offseason plans. The Canadian has one more season before he's eligible for salary arbitration and it's possible he returns to a more flexible high-leverage role.

With Ken Giles out the door, Romano looked like he might be in line to close after he finished third on the team behind Giles and Rafael Dolis last year with two saves. However, with the offseason addition of Kirby Yates, Romano moves down the ladder. In a small sample of 14.2 innings, the 27-year-old looked like a high-leverage reliever, posting a 1.23 ERA, 36.8 K% and 58.1 GB%. His 8.8 BB% was perfectly fine as well. That all represented a big step forward from his performance in a similar sample of 15.1 innings as a rookie in 2019. Putting a ton of trust into a reliever who's been good for less than 15 frames and who was never much of a prospect is tough to do, but relievers do pop up out of nowhere all the time, and Romano's significant velocity gains give reason to believe there's something there. His fastball jumped from 94.6 to 96.3 mph last season, while his slider spiked from 84.8 to 89.9 mph.

Romano spent most of his minor-league career as a starter but was used exclusively in relief by the Blue Jays last season. The right-hander made 17 appearances in his rookie campaign, logging 15.1 innings and struggling to a 7.63 ERA (6.41 FIP). The transition to relief enabled Romano to condense his arsenal to two pitches -- a 94-95 mph four-seam fastball and an 84-85 mph slider -- and ditch his subpar changeup. As a result, he notched an excellent 28.0 K% in his brief stint with Toronto and an even better 31.9 K% in 24 games (21 as a reliever) at the Triple-A level. However, when Romano wasn't striking out batters he was too often allowing them to reach base, posting a 12.0 BB% and getting scorched by a 36.4 HR/FB%. Romano has been considerably better in both areas throughout his minor-league career, so the hope is that he'll settle in with more experience and eventually compete for a late-inning role.