Cincinnati Reds’ Sal Romano solidifies his spot in 2018 starting rotation

As other pitchers have come and gone in the Cincinnati Reds’ rotation, Sal Romano has been just good enough to stay in the rotation.

The Cincinnati Reds have had some of the worst starting pitching in the majors this year, but Sal Romano is joining Luis Castillo in establishing himself in next year’s rotation.  Castillo leads the team in innings per start and WHIP.  Now Romano is trying to play catch-up.

The great news for the Reds is that Romano lasted at least five innings in each of his five August starts.  His last short start was July 28.  Not all of his August starts were great, though.

In back to back starts against the San Diego Padres and the Milwaukee Brewers Romano had difficulties.  Against the Padres on August 8, Romano allowed 5 runs in 6 innings.  His next time out in Milwaukee, Romano allowed six earned runs over five innings of work.

Want your voice heard? Join the Blog Red Machine team!

Write for us!

Those starts show that Romano isn’t guaranteed of a spot next year.  They also show that he can battle through a rough start to give the team innings.  Over five August starts, Romano averaged 6 ⅓ innings.

Struggling through rough starts and getting enough innings is great.  Based on Romano’s minor league work, though, he should be dominating in some games.  That is what he showed the last two times outs.

After looking like a rookie most of the season, Sal Romano finally showed the Cincinnati Reds what he could do at the big league level.

More from Reds News

• Reds vs. Tigers: Pitching preview, prediction, and more
• Reds: Relying more on his slider, Vladimir Gutierrez looks to stymie Tigers
• Reds: September is Eugenio Suárez’s time to shine
• Reds news: Alejo Lopez and Delino DeShields join the expanded roster
• Reds: Aristides Aquino’s stats since Player of the Month honors are awful

Over his last two starts, Romano has gone seven innings each time.  In ten starts the last two are the only two that Romano lasted seven.  In half of his ten starts Romano has only pitched five or fewer innings.

Last time out, Romano went seven innings allowing 2 runs.  He only allowed six hits and a single home run.  He was efficient as well, throwing 63 strikes in 100 pitches.

The start before that Romano also went seven innings, that time only allowing a single run.  That run came on a solo home run.  

He was not quite as efficient in that game, using 102 pitches to earn 56 strikes.

Romano has shown that he can pitch 100+ pitches in a game.  He has shown that he can go deep into games.  Now he needs to show that he can be consistent.

Next: What would a perfect spring look like?

Romano’s August is what the Reds are looking for right now.  They need pitchers that can pitch innings and keep the team in games.  Right now, Romano is doing his best to join Castillo in doing just that for the rotation.