J.C. Romero

[alexlegge]

The Road to the Metrodome

Juan Carlos ("J.C.") Romero was born in the Río Piedras district of San Juan, Puerto Rico. He grew up in San Juan before attending the University of Mobile in Alabama. There, he pitched for the Mobile Rams, making both starting and relieving appearances. When the Twins drafted him in the 21st round of the 1997 draft, he was seen as little more than a lottery ticket. As a young prospect in the Twins system, he was used almost exclusively out of the bullpen, and excelled in this role, quickly climbing the organizational ranks. He was a September call-up to the Twins in 1999, just his second full season of pro ball, and he made his major league debut on September 15 of that year.

 

Dominance as a Twins Setup Man

Romero's performance in the bullpen was strong enough that the Twins attempted to transition him to starting pitching after the 1999 season. However, he struggled as a starter during the 2000 and 2001 seasons, prompting the Twins to move him back to a full-time relief role for the 2002 season. To call this a "good" move would be an egregious understatement. Romero was dominant right out of the gate, logging 18 strikeouts in 14 consecutive scoreless innings over 13 dominant appearances to begin the 2002 season. It would be the best campaign of his career, one of the best seasons by any reliever in Twins history, and among the best seasons by any Twins southpaw regardless of role. Romero went 9-2, leading all Twins pitchers in bWAR (3.9), ERA (1.89), ERA+ (237), and games (81). He performed especially well in high leverage spots, amassing a WPA of 4.4, easily the best on the team and second only to A's closer Billy Koch in the American League. 

Stylistically, he had a four-pitch mix which included an elite sinker in the low 90s, a quality fastball in the low 90s, and two serviceable off-speed pitches (a slider and a changeup). He had an imposing presence on the mound, often wearing his his cap with a curved and low brim that made a shadow over his eyes. While many lefties of the day were used as one-out specialists, Twins skipper Ron Gardenhire quickly learned that Romero was effective enough against right-handed hitters to trust him in longer high leverage appearances. This gave the early 2000s Twins a formidable setup man from either side in Romero and RHP Latroy Hawkins. During the stretch of three consecutive division titles from 2002-2004, the two of them combined for over 12 WPA total and more than 6 WPA each. While Romero never recaptured his unprecedented dominance of 2002, he had several impactful seasons as a quality Twins setup man.

 

Post-Twins and Post-Career

Romero was eventually traded to the Angels for Alexi Casilla in the 2005-2006 offseason. He went on to win the World Series in 2008 as a member of the Phillies. His stint with the Phillies also included the most controversial point of his career - a 50-game PED suspension - though it should be noted that this stemmed from taking a legal over-the-counter supplement purchased at GNC, a type of purchase which MLBPA had errantly reassured players about. After returning, Romero pitched well for the Phillies for parts of multiple seasons, but was in his mid-30s and showing signs of decline by the early 2010s. He bounced around a handful of franchises at the end of his career and remained active as a pitcher for several years even after his last MLB appearance in 2012. This included multiple WBC appearances for Puerto Rico, including in 2013, when they finished second-place in the competition after knocking out the United States in the semi-final.

In his post-playing days, Romero has made appearances as a Phillies color commentator and Twins fantasy camp instructor. He was at Target Field in 2018 for Johan Santana's team hall of fame induction ceremony. In more recent years, he returned to the University of Mobile as a coach.

 

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