THE CANADIAN PRESS
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Heading into his sophomore year as a college baseball player, Ricky Romero declared in his online biography that his favourite food was tacos de carne asada, that his favourite baseball team was the Los Angeles Dodgers and that, "if he won the lottery, he would buy a house for his parents."
This past winter, after his breakout rookie season as a pitcher with the Toronto Blue Jays, the family finally went shopping.
"It’s the best feeling in the world knowing that you can take care of your family in that kind of way," Romero said with a smile. "It’s something that you treasure and you take with you forever, just to know that your parents are happy, and that they’re living comfortably in a good house."
They are not quite there yet. Romero said he hopes to close a deal on a home somewhere around his native Los Angeles at some point soon, just as he hopes to continue his good fortune on the mound as the probable No. 2 starter on a young Toronto pitching staff.
Romero posted a 13-9 record with the Blue Jays last year, five years after that sophomore season at Cal State Fullerton, and four years after Toronto selected him sixth overall in the First Year Player Draft. The team awarded him a US$2.4-million signing bonus, and will need the left-hander to continue paying dividends this summer to avoid the worst of the growing pains associated with a rebuilding team.
Toronto lost ace Roy Halladay in a blockbuster off-season trade, and has anointed Shaun Marcum its new No. 1, despite the fact it has been more than a year since he last pitched in a regular season game. The rotation below Romero has been the topic of some debate, with injuries and unproven arms factoring into the mix.
"As a young staff, we’ve kind of talked about it, and we’re like, ‘You know what? Not that we don’t care he’s not here, but we’ve got to deal with it,"’ Romero said of the team’s departed ace. "No one’s going to replace him. No one’s going to be a Roy Halladay. What we can do is be ourselves, create our own identity."
Brandon Morrow threw a bullpen session without pain in his right shoulder Friday and is scheduled to pitch in a minor league game Monday, meaning he could be on track as the team’s third starter. Marc Rzepczynski and Brian Tallet appear to be holding the final two spots, though manager Cito Gaston has praised Dana Eveland, acquired in an off-season trade with Oakland.
"It’s exciting to have the youth — and the inexperience is fun to work with," Blue Jays pitching coach Bruce Walton said. "On the other hand, it gives you some grey hairs at times. But hopefully, we’re a lot better at the end of the year that we are at the beginning of the year, and that’s my goal."
Gaston suggested Friday that he could announce the rotation by Monday, and that he had included Romero in the discussion of who would start for the team when it opened its regular season schedule in Texas, on April 5. The team decided to go with Marcum, who had more experience.
"He’ll tell you he’ll take the ball for No. 1," Gaston said of Romero. "The No. 1 guys get all the tough pitchers. But the No. 2 and No. 3 guys get some tough ones, too. It depends what club you’re facing."
Romero emerged as the fourth starter with the Jays last spring, but missed a month with a pulled oblique.
"I think we all love the underdog mentality," Romero said. "We know that we’re not expected to do anything. But there’s nothing better than being an underdog and coming out on top."
Romero’s ascent began in the hardscrabble neighbourhoods of East Los Angeles, where his parents, Ricardo and Sandra, raised their family. He rejected the suggestion it was a troubled area, but acknowledged that when he returned to address an assembly at his old middle school last winter, part of the discussion focused on, "letting people know that it is possible to come out of there."
It was the first time he had been invited to speak at the school. Romero addressed scores of wide-eyed students, whose questions ranged from his background in the area to his life in Canada and in the big leagues.
"Even me, as a little kid, I always wondered what it would be like to be a big-leaguer," Romero said. "Now that I get to wear the uniform, it’s something that I don’t take for granted. And every time I come to the yard, it’s exciting for me — sometimes you look back and say, ‘I’m a lucky person."’
