June 30, 2023

By Tyson Shushkewich

Canadian Baseball Network

It’s always a special occasion when a Canadian suits up for the Toronto Blue Jays, both for the fan and the player, an idea that is not lost on closer Jordan Romano.

“Being Canadian and growing up watching players like John Axford and Ryan Dempster all the time, to be in mentioned in the same categories as those guys as a big leaguer now is something really special to me,” Romano (Markham, Ont.) told the Canadian Baseball Network before picking up the save against the San Francisco Giants Thursday night at the Rogers Centre.

A product of the Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team Romano knows how important it is to represent Canada on the big league stage.

His days of working in the bullpen date back to his alma mater at Oral Roberts, where after two seasons at Connors State College, the 6-foot-5 Canuck became the Golden Eagles closer, amassing a team-high 12 saves on the season with a 2.66 ERA through 29 outings. With a solid junior year in the books in Tulsa, Okla., the Blue Jays would select Romano in the 10th round of the 2014 MLB draft and he would begin his professional career in Rookie League ball later that summer.

Romano’s path to the majors was not a walk in the park, as he underwent Tommy John surgery early in the 2015, what would have been his first full season within the Jays organization. He would return in 2016 but as a starter, working in the rotation until the 2019 campaign when he was moved to the bullpen with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons. That winter, the Blue Jays also almost lost Romano, as the Chicago White Sox selected him in the Rule 5 draft and subsequently dealt him to the Texas Rangers. After not breaking camp with the Rangers following spring training, he was sent back to the Blue Jays and would make his big league debut later that season.

Fast forward to today and Romano is not only the Blue Jays’ bonafide closer, but he is also one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball.

Since 2020, the right-hander has amassed 85 saves and currently ranks sixth in the majors in that category. Collectively, Romano owns a 2.64 ERA through 191 appearances with a 3.25 FIP, a 1.096 WHIP, and an 11.4 K/9 through 190 2/3 innings pitched to the tune of a 6.7 bWAR.

Boasting a fastball that can hit triple digits and a slider that has over four inches of vertical movement, Romano currently sports a 140 ERA+ while sitting in the 94th percentile in Whiff% and the 96th percentile in chase rate. After yesterday’s game, the 30-year-old sits tied for first with Guardians right-hander Emmanuel Clase with 24 saves on the year.

“Ultimately, that’s what I wanted to do,” said Romano. “I wanted to be pitching at the big league level and once I got into the bullpen here (Toronto), I wanted to be closing games and pitch in really important spots on a regular basis for this franchise.”

As of today, Romano ranks fifth all-time in saves by a Canadian in the majors, sitting two behind Dempster (87) and 40 behind third-place Toronto native John Hiller, who spent 15 seasons with the Detroit Tigers from 1965 to 1980.

Romano owns the record for most saves in a single season by a Canadian pitcher for a Canadian team with 36 and was two shy of Hiller’s American League record of 38 saves that he set back in 1973. After such an impressive 2022 campaign, Romano also took home the Tip O’Neill Award, an honour given to a Canadian player who excelled at the highest level based on individual achievement and team contribution as determined by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.

“It was an award I always kept track of growing up, seeingJoey Votto and Justin Morneau take home the honour multiple times. I never really thought I would have the opportunity to win something like that but to get the call this past winter, it was a really special day.” Romano was presented with the award prior to the Blue Jays’ 2023 home opener in front of a sold-out crowd at the Rogers Centre.

With the season now hitting the halfway mark, Romano is on track to surpass his personal best of 36 saves that he set during last year’s campaign, with the potential to break Hiller’s record for saves within the AL by a Canadian.

While he will need quite a few more opportunities to catch Eric Gagne’s single-season record of 55, one which earned him the 2003 NL Cy Young Award, Romano stays focused and has one goal in mind each and every time he takes the field in save situations.

“When I am out there and it is a tight game, I want to get ahead and attack the zone with my best stuff… I really want to get that first guy out and if I do that, I set myself up for the best chance to succeed in the outing,” said the Blue Jays closer.

The 2023 Blue Jays are looking to make it to the postseason after a quick exit last year at the hands of the Seattle Mariners, with Canadian Romano firmly entrenched in ninth-inning duties for the foreseeable future.