It hasn’t been a great start to Jordan Romano’s Phillies career, and it didn’t get any better on Sunday.

Romano faced the minimum in the 7th inning and didn’t record an out. He walked Andy Pages and Shohei Ohtani, who were a combined 0-5 with three strikeouts, then allowed an RBI double to Mookie Betts.

Orion Kerkering would enter the game for Romano, and give up a double to Will Smith off the top of the wall. The run was surrendered to Romano. His final line wasn’t pretty: zero innings pitched, two hits, three earned runs, one walk.

Rob Thomson said after the game that he’s “concerned” with Romano’s velocity. Thomson said that team trainers confirmed that there are no red flags as of now, meaning the team does think something could be up:

The Phillies bats late in games have been keeping them afloat, and are a big reason why this team is 7-2 and has not lost a series yet. But your biggest bullpen signing of the offseason, who underwent elbow surgery last year, flashing a low, fluctuating velocity is concerning for the future. The Phillies are hoping Romano can work through it, and maybe it’s just early season rust; but Romano’s health is something that will definitely be checked out once again over the next few days.


Although the concern is there for Romano, there probably isn’t another concern on the entire Phillies team right now. They take two of three from the World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers, are 7-2 on the season, and have won every series so far. The team will kick off a three-game set against the 1-8 Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.