Romo solves throwing issue, puts on the gear for Rox

SAN DIEGO -- Rookie Drew Romo spent nearly two weeks as the third catcher on a Rockies team that needed just two. The only times he donned a mask was to warm up a pitcher between innings, when fans were at the concession stands or watching commercials on television.

But the rubble of the Rockies’ 11-3 loss to the Padres on Saturday night at Petco Park allowed Romo to enter defensively in the seventh inning.

Romo, 24, showed how he has addressed the question that dogged his Major League debut last year -- the involuntary compulsion to lob the ball back to the pitcher. The habit encouraged baserunners to take advantage, with the potential arising for embarrassing stolen bases on throws back to the mound.

“It’s funny,” Romo said earlier this month, while awaiting his chance. “Me and the other catcher [in Albuquerque], Daniel Cope, were talking about the yips.

“I was like, ‘Dude, right now I’ve got the zips -- the way I’m throwing the ball back to the pitcher right now, my arm’s getting sore.’”

The 35th overall Draft pick in 2020 out of The Woodlands (Texas) High School, Romo flashed potential as a switch-hitting catcher who could move through the Minor League system quickly.

Such prodigious catching development stories are rare, but Romo showed enough for the Rockies to see if one could be authored. His .297 performance in Triple-A last season earned him a Major League debut last Aug. 17.

Romo hit .176 in 16 games, but his return throws were so unsightly that they overshadowed even the offense.

The problem originated in the low Minors.

“I was trying to throw the ball back to the pitcher, and he kept turning his head away,” Romo said. “So it made me very tentative. I didn’t want to hit the guy, didn’t want to hurt him or have the ball get away and an error and runs score, whatever.”

Romo couldn’t stop that intrusive thought from turning his throws back to the pitcher into push shots.

Problems showed up in Spring Training games and became a hot-button issue at the end of last season. Then-manager Bud Black and then-bench coach/catching instructor Mike Redmond told him in no uncertain terms that it needed to be addressed.

But the Rockies went into the season planning on Hunter Goodman and Jacob Stallings as catchers. Romo’s 2-for-17 spring performance didn’t force the issue. Days after being optioned to Minor League camp, his route to another chance grew longer.

“I hit a triple and dove headfirst into third base,” Romo said. “It was a really bad slide. My shoulder rolled up underneath me. I’m lucky I didn’t hurt anything worse, but I broke my [right] pinkie pretty badly. I didn’t know it was broken. So I played through it for a week. It didn’t get better, and we got it checked out.”

Romo didn’t join Albuquerque until late May.

In the interim, Goodman, 25, became an All-Star and rookie Braxton Fulford, 26, grabbed the backup role. Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer wants both to catch in a regular rotation, so there is almost no time to play Romo.

In the same interim that other catchers moved ahead of him, Romo addressed the seemingly simple throws while rehabbing from the injury at the team’s complex in Scottsdale, Ariz.

“I was talking to [Minor Leaguer] Tayler Aguilar, trying stuff out, and just got a good feel for it,” Romo said.

At Albuquerque, Romo had a slash line of .264/.329/.409 in 60 concentrated games.

“I never caught that much in my life,” Romo said. “It really helped me catching. And my hitting was much-improved. Playing every day, getting into a rhythm, seeing pitches and then being behind the plate was taxing. But my body felt good and my mind felt good.”

Romo wasn’t tested defensively on Saturday. Catcher Elias Díaz singled with one out in the eighth. He was no threat to test Romo’s arm, but Romo did block a low changeup from Angel Chivilli. That sequence, however, ended with Bryce Johnson socking a two-run homer off Chivilli.

Romo’s strikeout on Saturday gave him three in as many sparse at-bats.

“He looked good out there -- blocked the ball well, and his throws looked good,” Shaeffer said. “So that was a positive. It was good to get him out there, even though it was in a tough situation.”

Addressing the basic flaw of return throws should allow Romo to compete for future playing time and starts.

“I want to set that tone for my team, be the leader,” Romo said. “Everybody in the field is looking at me. So that’s why it was so frustrating, because it was hard to fix. Now it’s the best it’s been in years.”