J.C. Romero had an absolutely incredible 2002 as he was one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball, and by far the best of the Twins deep bullpen. As a starting pitcher in both 2000 and 2001, Romero was absolutely atrocious, but he was switched into a relief role much like what had happened with Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins after their initial struggles with the Twins. Suddenly, the Rock was lights-out as he dominated batters. He has a herky-jerky pitching motion that allows him to hide the ball very well. Plus, his changeup is one of the best in the majors as it disappears to opposing batters.
Just looking at his picture, you will see that J.C. bears a resembles to The Rock. While calling him the Rock was great, his performance has helped enhance the nickname as he has become "Rock Solid" or "Reliable as a Rock" out of the bullpen. Thus far in 2003, his stats are very deceiving as subsequent relievers have allowed his runners to score. By the end of his season, The Rock should have turned in another year of 70+ innings and a sub 3.00 ERA.
The Rock and The Hawk should continue to form an effective one-two punch out of the bullpen to make Eddie's job easier. Eventually, or as early as next year if Guardado is not resigned, the Rock will probably become the Twins closer. Sadly, this will actually decrease his value as he will no longer pitch during the tense moments of the 7th and 8th innings as he will be waiting to preserve a lead that may not occur by the time the 9th inning rolls around.
Updated June 18, 2003
Unfortunately, Romero has had a season long battle with his control which culminated last night with him hitting a batter with the bases loaded. About the only thing worse than hitting a batter while behind four runs and with the bases loaded is getting ejected for doing so. J.C.'s ejection was one of the worst umpiring decisions that I can remember. Romero has been nagged by injuries and his inconsistency has forced Gardenhire to place even more pressure on Hawkins. The sooner that Romero can regain his old form the better because the bullpen has really been stretched very thin.
