Phillies’ JoJo Romero to undergo Tommy John surgery

Phillies left-hander JoJo Romero will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the remainder of the 2021 season, manager Joe Girardi announced to reporters (link via Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia). He’ll undergo the procedure next week and miss a good portion of the 2022 season as well.

The 24-year-old Romero hasn’t yet had much success at the big league level yet, surrendering 16 earned runs on 25 hits and six walks with 18 punchouts in 25 2/3 innings. But he’s regarded as one of the organization’s more promising young arms, placing 13th among Phillies farmhands at FanGraphs and 21st at Baseball America. Romero has tallied 392 2/3 innings in the minors since being selected in the fourth round of the 2016 draft, pitching to an overall 3.69 ERA with a 21.7% strikeout rate, an 8.1% walk rate and a hearty 53.2% ground-ball rate. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen tabs him as a possible multi-inning reliever for the Phils.

Romero’s season-ending injury allowed the Phillies to move him to the 60-day injured list and free up a 40-man roster spot for infielder Ronald Torreyes, who returned from the COVID-19 list Tuesday night and delivered a two-run, pinch-hit double in Philadelphia’s win over Miami.