Jordan Romano shows remarkable form in return to solidify Blue Jays' back-end duo

Jordan Romano's first outing since July 28 went as well as the Toronto Blue Jays possibly could've expected.

Defending a one-run lead on Tuesday night, the 30-year-old closer retired all three Philadelphia Phillies he faced with just 11 pitches, earning two strikeouts along the way.

That result is solid for a guy coming off the IL, but considering Romano's status as an elite reliever it's far from shocking. The way he went about shutting down the Phillies was eye-opening, though.

In his Tuesday outing Romano's fastball averaged 98.7 mph, a full two ticks above his season average prior to the appearance. He threw two of his five fastest pitches of the season on Tuesday — including this 99 mph heater perfectly placed above the zone that Nick Castellanos could not catch up with.

While we're talking about a handful of pitches here, Romano's velocity is still noteworthy in the context of his career.

In 201 MLB appearances prior to Tuesday, the right-hander only averaged more than 98.7 mph on his fastballs five times — each of those coming from a brief period between July 26 and August 23, 2021. Those five outings resulted in 4.2 innings of scoreless ball where he struck out nine hitters and allowed just two base runners.

That's a small sample, but it seems relatively safe to assume Romano is harder to hit when his heater closes in on triple digits.

We live in an era where 100 mph fastballs are more common than ever, but the Canadian's fastball tends to be even harder to hit than his raw velocity suggests thanks to an above-average spin rate (74th percentile) and truly elite extension (100th percentile). When he's throwing in the mid-90s it can feel more like 100 — and when he's approaching 100 mph, opposing hitters are in a world of trouble.

It's tough to know if Romano's ability to rest and heal his back on the IL will translate to a longer-term velocity bump or if Tuesday's outing was an adrenaline-fueled outlier, but the Blue Jays have to be encouraged by what they saw.

That's especially true because the team got a glimpse of Romano paired with trade deadline acquisition Jordan Hicks for the first time as the Blue Jays earned a tightly-contested win. Hicks produced his finest outing since joining Toronto, striking out the side and making Phillies hitters look downright perplexed.

If the Blue Jays' two Jordans are as effective in the weeks to come as they were on Tuesday night, the back end of the team's bullpen will be in good hands.

While Romano was on the IL, Toronto's relief group managed a 2.30 ERA in 54.2 innings, holding opponents to a .204/.280/.298 line. Now the unit's leader is back and seems to be as strong as ever. With Trevor Richards and Chad Green also on their way back to the majors, the Blue Jays bullpen is likely to be a difference maker as the team fights to retain its playoff position.