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JoJo Romero
Acquired in the Edmundo Sosa trade last season, JoJo Romero has mostly been an afterthought for most Cardinals fans when it comes to real bullpen pieces for this team. Well, just ask former Cardinal Randy Arozarena what he thinks of Romero's nasty changeup.
JoJo Romero, Expelliarmus Changeup. 🪄 pic.twitter.com/47zsze78od
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 10, 2023
The Cardinals have been razor thin in the bullpen this season, and as of late, have given more and more high-leverage situations to Romero, and he has more than delivered in his opportunities.
JoJo Romero this season
— Jacob (@CardinalsReek) August 8, 2023
127 ERA+
3.42 ERA
3.50 xERA
27.7% K%
8.5% BB%
58.6% GB%
36.3% Whiff%
1.51 FIP and 26.6% K-BB% since Helsley's injury. Has been a really pleasant surprise pic.twitter.com/GQTVYCX7Bu
I would not advocate that the Cardinals have found their new 7th or 8th-inning guy. The Cardinals still need to prioritize adding at least one arm worthy of high-leverage innings to their bullpen before next season. But if you do that, as well as add this version of Romero to Ryan Helsley and Giovanny Gallegos, you have yourself a formidable bullpen on your hands.
With how many young arms the Cardinals have going into next season (Guillermo Zuniga, Wilking Rodriguez, Zack Thompson, Matthew Liberatroe, Gordon Graceffo, Dakota Hudson, Drew Rom, Michael McGreevy, Adam Kloffenstein, Andre Pallante, and Sem Robberse), I think they can realistically piece together the rest of the bullpen if they have 4-5 arms they feel good about at the back end.
Romero has firmly placed his name in that mix.