On this day, the Dodgers signed Sergio Romo to a 1-year deal. Romo was the set-up man to Brian Wilson in 2010 when the Giants claimed their first championship of the three. He then was the set-up man to Santiago Casilla the next couple years. However, when the Giants made Romo the closer a few times over the past 3 seasons, his numbers declined. But, that doesn’t matter as he will be in his role setting up the second best closer in the game.
For a reliever who’s fastball only occasionally touches 90 MPH, Romo’s strikeout rate is impeccable. However, despite the strikeout rate, usually low velocity means more home runs given up. News flash, Sergio Romo has never allowed double digit home runs in a season. But, the most outstanding characteristic Sergio has is his consistency. Amongst his 9 years in the big leagues, only 2 of his campaigns have ended with a 3+ era. He dealt with some injuries in 2016 that limited him to 30.2 innings, but he has logged at least 48 every season since 2009.
The list of impressive stats goes on, but one of the most important stats is ERA+. It is very similar to WAR, but takes park and league factors into the matter. An ERA+ of 100 is league average; Romo’s ERA+ the last 2 seasons has been 157 and 129 respectively.
Throughout his career batters have batted .205 against him. Yes, the last two seasons have resulted in the worst stats of Romo’s career, but most of that is due to one main reason. That reason is the pressure of being the anchor to the Giants’ pen. But, that wont be a problem in LA, as Jansen is the guy, and the Dodgers pen is deeper than the Giants. In addition, Dave Roberts is the manager, and the reason he won NL Manager of the Year is because of the way he utilized the pen. And side note, Romo knows the NL West well, obviously. This signing could be the steal of the offseason, and the key to the Dodgers road to the Series in the Fall.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rWyFAiqPmI
