The 2017 season was a homecoming for Sergio Romo, who donned a new uniform for the first time in his career. After spending the previous 10 seasons with the rival San Francisco Giants, he signed a one-year deal to join his hometown Los Angeles Dodgers — the team he grew up cheering for.
The Brawley, Calif. native allowed just two runs in his first five innings with the club, but struggled mightily against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 21. In that outing, he recorded just one out while yielding five runs and issued three walks.
Romo finished the month of April with an unsightly 9.72 ERA and 2.04 WHIP over 8.1 innings with nine strikeouts to seven walks. Those numbers would vastly improve the following month, when he pitched to a 3.72 ERA and 0.72 WHIP with 11 punch outs in 9.2 May frames.
The right-hander’s usage would diminish over the next month and a half, as he only logged 10 total innings from June through the All-Star Break. He briefly spent time on the disabled list and appeared in two games for High-A Rancho Cucamonga at the end of June, before returning to the Dodgers’ 25-man roster.
As the result of a roster crunch, Romo was designated for assignment in late-July and ultimately found his way to the Tampa Bay Rays in a trade. All-in-all, he pitched to a 6.12 ERA, 5.76 FIP and 1.40 WHIP in 25 innings for the Dodgers.
The change of scenery did wonders for Romo, as he went on to post a 1.47 ERA, 2.96 FIP and 0.85 WHIP in 30.2 innings for the Rays, with 28 strikeouts to seven walks.
2017 Highlight
In his second appearance of the season, Romo tossed a perfect inning against the Colorado Rockies and accumulated two strikeouts in the process. His scoreless eighth inning helped pave the way for Kenley Jansen to record the final three outs of the game, as the Dodgers improved to 4-3 on the year.
2018 Outlook
After a successful stint with the Rays, Romo finds himself back on the free agent market. Though he struggled with the Dodgers, his rejuvenation in Tampa Bay will help the 34-year-old land another Major League deal this offseason with a different organization.
