Romano steadies on mound after kicking bad delivery habit

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PHILADELPHIA -- Jordan Romano’s leg lift had gotten bigger and bigger over the years.

But bigger isn’t always better.

“It was getting too out of control,” Romano said Wednesday.

Romano signed a one-year, $8.5 million contract with the Phils in December. They believed he would return to All-Star form following elbow surgery last year. But Romano had a 15.75 ERA in his first five appearances with Philadelphia. He allowed six hits, seven earned runs, four walks, one home run and one hit batsman and struck out six in four innings. His fastball averaged 94.6 mph, which fluctuated from 91.3 mph to 97.8 mph.

It was a concern.

It was a concern because the Phillies needed Romano to pitch well in high-leverage situations late in games. They needed him to be one of Rob Thomson’s most trusted right-handed relievers, alongside Orion Kerkering, especially following the offseason departures of Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estévez.

But Romano thinks he is back on track, following a simple mechanical adjustment to his delivery.

Simply put, his leg lift isn’t as pronounced.

“I feel like my delivery now is similar to 2021-22,” he said. “There’s just a cleaner feel to it. It’s a little cleaner, a little better balanced, a little smoother. That’s how it feels to me now.

“There was an offseason or a time when I wasn’t feeling good with my delivery. I wanted to try something else. And that [leg lift] felt good for a time. I just felt like it got too, too big and a little bit too, too out of control. As the weeks went on, as the months went on, it just got bigger and bigger. Then it got to a point where it just didn’t feel good at all.”

Romano’s leg lift has been noticeably smaller in his past three appearances with the Phillies. He has allowed one hit and struck out one in three scoreless innings in those games. His fastball has averaged 95.4 mph.

“At the end of the day, with the delivery, with how fast these guys are moving, you don’t have complete control once you get going down the mountain,” Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham said. “You can make a decision where you set up on the rubber. You can make a decision about how you enter your lift, your posture, your position. For him, he’s shown a bunch of different styles of leg lifts that have worked, but when he’s at his best, it’s usually just a little tighter, a little quieter.

“A delivery’s job is to go toward the plate. You can overcomplicate it, but you want to be going toward the plate. But the more I’ve got going east-west with my balance, the harder it is to get going to the plate with balance. He’s just quieted it up a little bit.”

It has Romano feeling good about what’s to come.

“I really do,” he said. “It just feels more comfortable, more clean. So we’re just gonna try to stick with this. Just keep tuning it up as needed, and hopefully get on a roll here.”