J.C. Romero Could Be The St. Louis Cardinals’ Next LOOGY

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com tweeted on Wednesday that the Cardinals could soon come to an agreement with left-handed reliever J.C. Romero on a one-year contract. The terms of the deal have yet to be disclosed. Before Cardinals fans get into an uproar over who will more or less be the 25th man on the roster move, consider that this is exactly what this is, a last man on the roster move. If this signing happens, Romero is the lefty AFTER Marc Rzepczynski in the pecking order out of the bullpen. He should be used merely as a Lefty One-Out GuY or affectionately known as a LOOGY.

Romero, 35, is not being signed to get the most important outs with a lefty at the plate. He is probably coming into games where the Cardinals are actually losing and need a lefty out. Rzepczynski, is their main lefty reliever. Having a second lefty in the bullpen is a luxury for most teams. Most teams are fortunate to have one good lefty in the pen. There just are not many good lefty relievers to begin with. A team with two good lefty relievers on the same team seldom transpires.

If manager Mike Matheny uses Romero strictly as a LOOGY, the chances of Romero being successful are good. His splits for his career (238 innings versus left-handed hitters) are .205 BAA, 8.36 K/9, 3.97 BB/9, .42 HR/9 and a xFIP of 3.55. The walks are certainly an issue, but the rest of it is OK for the second lefty in the pen. Now, against right-handed hitters in his career (271 2/3 innings) Romero has produced numbers one wonders why he ever throws a ball to a righty. He has accumulated a .253 BAA, 6.65 K/9, 6.87 BB/9, .84 HR/9 and a xFIP of 5.39. Seriously? If the Cardinals do sign Romero it is almost a certainty he will not face right-handed batters.

So, everyone should look at this potential signing for what it is. An inexpensive one-year fill-in for a LOOGY who may see 30 innings all season. If he pitches more than that the Cardinals are in trouble.

You can ‘Like’ Redbird Rants on Facebook here. You can follow Redbird Rants on Twitter at @FSRedbirdRants and Christopher Carelli on Twitter at @BaseballStance.