Romero planning on sinking, in a good way

Last seasons opening day Toronto Blue Jays pitcher was Ricky Romero and he followed that start with his worst year as a pro. Romero coming into 2013 is coming off an off-season in which he had elbow surgery and received injections in both knees to help relieve some discomfort.  Blue Jays staff are trying to help the pitcher regain his All-star form of 2011.

Widely evident at Jays training camp this year is the great communication that is happening between staff and players alike. An interesting example of the  is a little piece of information fellow pitcher Brandon Morrow passed along to Romero.

Morrow  pointed out that Romero had strayed from his sinker last season (Romero threw his sinker only eight per cent of the time last year against lefties and 13 per cent against right handers, comparatively in 2011 he threw it 26 and 21 per cent  respectively.

Morrow is a self-proclaimed “nerd stat” geek and researched Romero’s statistics via the popular www.brooksbaseball.net.

Romero was caught off guard by his teammates research and called the numbers “pretty crazy”.  The printout with the sinker numbers on it that Morrow had given Romero is pinned up in his locker as a constant reminder of how important the pitch is going to be to his future success.

His first start of the spring proved that the information was being taken seriously as Romero estimated he threw the sinker 90 to 95 per cent of the time and explained the he is “just trying to get that pitch back and get it under control”.

“Getting ground balls out and quick outs. It all came off that sinker … I know if it’s down, it’s going to be a ground ball more often than not,” Romero continued.

Blue Jays brass are hopeful that Ricky Romero returns to his All-star form and that his fast ball is the only thing sinking in 2013.

The Jays host Houston on Wednesday with Brad Lincoln set to start against Alex White of the Astros.