Nats' Romero debuts with three hitless frames
Seth Romero didn't waste any time establishing himself in the New York-Penn League.Making his first start above the complex level, the Nationals' first-round pick tossed three hitless innings, striking out five and walking one, in Class A Short Season Auburn's 7-4 victory over Connecticut on Tuesday at Falcon Park.
Making his first start above the complex level, the Nationals' first-round pick tossed three hitless innings, striking out five and walking one, in Class A Short Season Auburn's 7-4 victory over Connecticut on Tuesday at Falcon Park.
Gameday box score
"I was pretty happy with it," Romero said. "I did pretty good, so there is nothing to be angry about. I felt really good, so everything went as planned. I was happy with it. ... I did feel like I was in a rhythm."
The Nationals' No. 5 prospect features a fastball and slider that each rate a 60 on the 20-80 scouting scale, according to MLB Pipeline, and his changeup comes in at 55. Having been suspended twice in his two most recent college seasons, Romero was removed from the University of Houston baseball team in May but not before he struck out 85 over 48 2/3 innings in 10 games, including seven starts.
"I pretty much put all that stuff behind me," the 21-year-old left-hander said. "I'm focused on what's ahead of me."
Making his pro debut in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League on Aug. 1, Romero walked two and fanned three in two no-hit innings. The transition to starting a pro game under the lights at the Class A Short Season level "was just pretty easy," he said. And he didn't experience any butterflies before taking the mound.
The first batter he faced, Tigers ninth-rounder
"My catcher [
Romero induced two straight groundouts for a perfect inning, then fanned the first two batters in the second. After missing three straight pitches to
"I was just trying to throw him strikes and a couple of them missed the zone," Romero said. "But everything worked out after that."
In fact, he whiffed the next batter and opened the third with back-to-back strikeouts on seven pitches. Burch flied out to complete Romero's outing on 47 pitches, 32 for strikes.
"I knew it was going to be three [innings]," he said. "As far I know now, I'm going to go a couple threes and then maybe tick up a little."
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Josh Jackson is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow and interact with him on Twitter, @JoshJacksonMiLB.