Ricky Romero isn’t sugar coating anything. More than anyone, he says he knows how poor his performance has been of late and what it’s been like for fans to watch at times.
But the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher also knows that the reverse isn’t true. He knows that it’s impossible for fans to know how he feels right now, when his arm isn’t doing what he knows it can.
"…To the fans it might seem like everything’s happening really slow, but when you’re out there it seems like everything’s happening so fast, you know?" Romero told hosts Sam Cosentino and Dirk Hayhurst Tuesday during the debut edition of Baseball Central @ Noon on Sportsnet 590 The Fan.
"When you get in that island, you know, you kind of feel like all this weight’s on your shoulders and you just can’t move. Everything you’re trying to do, isn’t happening, and I think that’s the key word. You’re trying, you’re trying to do this, you’re trying to do that with your pitches, and they’re flat," he continued. "…you have to be in these shoes to kind of understand."
Romeo added that the weight on his shoulders comes from his competitiveness and love of the game.
"It’s not fun, it’s definitely not fun when you’re getting your butt kicked out there and you know, I care a lot about my team and doing good for them and for the city too, you know. I feel bad for everyone and that’s just the kind of player I am," he said.
For Romero, baseball is more a mental game than it is a physical one, and just like training hard in the gym to stay in peak condition, Romero also goes to lengths to keep his mind right.
"Ever since I was in college… I’ve always talked to the same sports psychologist," Romero said. "Earlier this year, when things started to spiral down, I gave him a call. Me and him have had a great relationship… and I was actually thinking about giving him a call after I talk to you guys, just to see where we’re at.
"I feel like he’s helped me a lot and he’s worked with so many great athletes and he understands a little bit of what I’m going through so I’ll probably try get back on track with him and try to talk to him more often just to make sure I’m on the right track."
Romero acknowledged that he doesn’t see his sports psychologist as a quick fix for his mental game, but rather as a vital step in a bigger process.
"It’s not for every baseball player out there, and you pretty much have to buy into what they call the process," he explained. "That’s what this game is, it’s a process, you know, you can’t think two pitches ahead, three pitches ahead, four pitches ahead, you got to stay in the moment, as they say, and take it one pitch at a time…"
Staying in the moment is something Romeo plans to focus on in his effort to pull himself out his current slump.
"It’s just a matter of being mentally strong and realizing that I need to slow my game down and take it one pitch at a time, and just go from there and not try and over think stuff too much," he said.
"That’s one thing I’ve always told myself. Through your ups and your downs, you got to be a man about it and face the media."
