Latest Jordan Romano dud makes next Phillies move all too obvious

The Philadelphia Phillies took a major risk, letting both Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez walk and replacing them with Jordan Romano and Joe Ross in the bullpen. Hoffman has had his ups and downs, but he still has 27 saves for the Toronto Blue Jays, and Estevez was an All-Star for the Kansas City Royals. As for the guys the Phillies signed, well, they should both be on DFA watch. Romano reminded everyone of that with his outing on Monday.

Romano inherited a runner on first with two outs in the seventh inning in what was a 7-1 game in favor of the Phillies. The right-hander would allow a single to J.P. Crawford on the second pitch he threw, and the second batter he faced, Cole Young, launched a three-run homer, getting Seattle back into the game.

This didn't end up mattering much as Romano got the third out and the Phillies tacked on several runs of insurance immediately after Romano's implosion, but this outing begged the question of why is he still on the team when he's struggling to get the No. 8 and No. 9 hitters out?

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It's time for the Phillies to cut bait with Jordan Romano after another brutal outing

Romano now has a 7.56 ERA in 48 appearances and 41.2 innings of work this season. Perhaps most alarmingly, he's allowed nine home runs this season, two more than his previous career high, and his 25.4 percent strikeout rate, while above league-average, is well below his career mark of 25.4 percent.

Romano has had a brutal season no matter how you slice it. In fact, I'd say he's had one of, if not the worst season a Phillies reliever who has been used as much as he him has ever had.

Sure, he's only allowed a run in 14 of his 48 appearances, which isn't horrible, but he's allowed two or more runs in 10 of those outings. His propensity to just implode at a moment's notice can either cost the Phillies any given game or allow a team to get back into a game. Romano did the latter on Monday.

I get it - it's never ideal to cut bait with a player the team just signed over the offseason. The Phillies thought Romano would play a major role in their bullpen, and he's been an unmitigated disaster. Winning has to be the top priority, and Romano just isn't helping them do that right now. The Phillies have given this experiment four and a half months. At some point, enough has to be enough.

The next move the Phillies make should be DFA'ing Romano and replacing him with just about anyone else. He's made it clear that he is not fit to pitch in meaningful games, and the Phillies must act accordingly.