'Claws' Romero sets career high with 10 whiffs

When JoJo Romero warmed up Friday night, he knew something was clicking by the way he delivered each pitch with precision. 
"It was probably the best I've felt the whole first half," the Phillies' No. 25 prospect said. "I had a good bullpen before I went out there to pitch. I just had a feeling it was going to be a pretty good day when your arm feels that good." 
Romero fanned a career-high 10 while scattering four hits over eight innings to lead Class A Lakewood to a 6-0 win over Hickory at FirstEnergy Park.

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"For me, it's about getting pitches over, corner-to-corner, with ease and having a little zip on it in the bullpen," the left-hander said. "That kind of helps boost your confidence and kind of lets you know that your arm is feeling good and that you don't have to work too hard.
"Once I got to the field, some of my pitches started to move and I was able to spot them where I wanted to. It's always good when that happens." 
Romero, who also threw eight shutout innings on May 10 against Greenville, trimmed his ERA to a season-low 2.01 after Friday's effort. The Crawdads entered the game ranked third in the South Atlantic League with 53 homers, so Romero devised a game plan to attack their weaknesses. 
"When it's a good hitting team like that, when you can locate a two-seam low and away, and you get them to swing early in the count, that helps your pitch count, for one," the Oxnard, California, native said. "And two, when you're struggling in an inning, you can go to that, get a nice ground-ball out, ground-ball double play. It's just kind of a nice boost for you to get the inning moving along."
Romero needed only 28 pitches to set down six of the first seven hitters. After the first two Crawdads were retired in the third, Eric Jenkins doubled to right field, but Romero got Franklin Rollin to ground out to catcher Edgar Cabral ending the threat. 
"I think I threw a fastball in, he had a quick bat and hit it right down the line, hugged the line -- our first baseman was playing off of it," Romero said of the double. "It's just one of those things where it happens and you have to move on to the next batter, and I was able to do that." 
The 2016 fourth-round pick fell into a groove and recorded perfect frames in the fourth, fifth and seventh. In the fifth, he struck out the side with all three hitters swinging.
Romero believes that at least part of the success took shape because of the almost telepathic relationship he and Cabral have developed. 
"I kind of step off and mouth something to myself, kind of whisper it in his ear," Romero said. "Next thing I know, he's putting down that sign. It's just a great, comfortable feeling that I have the same mindset as my catcher. It allows me to have to have that quick tempo and pace to move the game along." 
Romero retired eight in a row before he surrendered a two-out single to Blaine Prescott in the eighth. But the 6-foot, 190-pound hurler fanned Jenkins after he and Cabral figured out a more effective way to pitch to him after he doubled earlier. 
"We went back into the dugout and noticed something on his swing, and we adjusted that later in the game and we were able to get the guy out," Romero said. "From the fifth inning on, I like to attack with the fastball and it helps me set up my other pitches, like my slider, which I struck out that last guy on.
"... It just goes back to the relationship that me and Cabral have. He does a real good job of studying the hitter, like I do. We go back into the dugout and adjust it. When those six, seven, eight innings come along, it's smooth sailing." 
After the Yavapai College product walked off the mound after the eighth, he wasn't aware that he set a personal best for whiffs. What he thought was a "handful" turned out to be his first double-digit performance since he fanned 15 in the 2016 NJCAA Championship. 
"When I came out into the dugout and they asked me how many strikeouts I had, I said, 'I don't know,'" Romero said. "After the game, I saw the stat sheet and 10 strikeouts. It kind of flies by." 
Felix Paulino completed Lakewood's South Atlantic League-leading 11th shutout with two strikeouts in a perfect ninth.
Emmanuel Garcia had three hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Raul Rivas drove in two runs with a hit for the BlueClaws. Second-ranked Philadelphia prospect Mickey Moniak collected an RBI single.