Veteran reliever Jordan Romano woke up Tuesday morning still pitching for a first-place Philadelphia Phillies team, one still owning a six-game NL East lead over the New York Mets.
Whether Romano will be in Philadelphia much longer remains to be seen. Romano’s horrific season continued in Monday’s 13-3 loss to the Mets, with the two-time All-Star allowing four earned runs and throwing only 16 of 29 pitches for strikes.
Romano entered in the seventh inning of a 6-3 game and departed with the Phillies trailing 10-3. He’s allowed at least two earned runs in three of his last four outings, sending his ERA from an ugly 6.64 to a dreadful 8.23.
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— New York Mets (@Mets) August 26, 2025
“We’ve got to really check on him tomorrow and see what’s going on,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters.
Romano has given the Phillies -1.6 bWAR and allowed 10 home runs in 42 2/3 innings. Only Mick Abel (2.5 in 25 innings) has a higher home run per nine innings rate than Romano among Phillies pitchers who have recorded at least 20 innings this year.
The Phillies must cut Jordan Romano to save their World Series chances
Phillies fans of a certain age will remember the Mets’ infamous 2007 collapse, when the Mets lost 12 of their final 17 to blow the NL East and miss the playoffs entirely. Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and the Phillies reaped the benefits to claim their first division crown since 1993.
We invoke the 2007 (and, by extension, the 2008 Mets team that blew a Wild Card lead in the season’s last two weeks) Phillies to prove how quickly things can change. There are certainly differences, primarily that those Mets still would have reached the postseason had the modern, three-Wild Card team format existed then. The point remains, though, that Thomson and the Phillies cannot keep turning to Romano as a viable relief option.
In fact, we’ll go so far as to say that there is no reason why Romano should remain on the Phillies’ roster. The 32-year-old signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal last winter, and we feel comfortable assuming he won’t be wearing a Phillies uniform next season. Why shouldn’t the Phillies accept defeat and cut Romano now?
Romano’s ERA has never been under 6.00 this season, and he’s allowed 12 earned runs and six homers in 9 1/2 second-half innings. This isn’t an instance of a player having three or four bad outings over a month. Romano has proven throughout the season that he’s not only hittable but also extremely unreliable when given the ball.
Even if he had an above-average September, it’s hard to see Romano making the Phillies’ playoff roster. Would you feel comfortable turning to Romano when trailing 3-1 against the Dodgers or Padres in a best-of-three Wild Card series? We certainly wouldn’t, and if Thomson and the Phillies feel the same way, then they’re better off waving the white flag and sending Romano packing before it’s too late.