Rick Diculous
If I could summarize Ricky Romero’s start in one word? Ridiculous.
In two words? Rick Diculous.
I thought it couldn’t get any better than Ricky Romero’s 12-strikeout performance back on April 13th against the Chicago White Sox. Boy, was I wrong.
RR Cool Jay turned out the best start of his young career: a complete game, five hit shutout performance.
Somewhere, Roy Halladay is smiling.
Romero was dialed in from first to last pitch, feeding the Texas Rangers a steady diet of changeups all afternoon. Of his 12 strikeouts, nine were via the changeup (strikeout data below).
| Strikeout Victim | Pitch Type | Situation |
|---|---|---|
| M.Young | Changeup | 1-2 Count |
| J. Hamilton | Changeup | 0-2 Count |
| V. Guerrero | Changeup | 1-2 Count |
| M. Trenor | Changeup | 0-2 Count |
| E. Andrus | Changeup | 3-2 Count |
| M. Young | Changeup | 1-2 Count |
| J. Hamilton | Changeup | 2-2 Count |
| A. Blanco | Curveball | 0-2 Count |
| J.Hamilton | Fastball | 1-2 Count |
| N. Cruz | Curveball | 2-2 Count |
| M. Young | Changeup | 0-2 Count |
| J. Hamilton | Changeup | 0-2 Count |
Both Michael Young and Josh Hamilton had an extremely tough time trying to figure out Romero’s bread and butter pitch. Young struck out three times, and Josh Hamilton earned a golden sombrero with four strikeouts.
One of the most incredible stats of the game which you won’t see on the boxscore (courtesy of Jordan Bastian), Romero threw one ball or fewer to 24 of the 32 batters he faced.
Ricky did an incredible job of getting ahead in the count, and one he had two strikes on the hitter, it was basically over. The Rangers swung over top of the changeup the entire game, and that’s why they only collected five hits, all for singles.
Congratulations to Ricky Romero on one of, if not the best pitching performance by a Blue Jays starter this season.
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Ian Hunter
Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the ALDS to his son for the next 20 years.
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8 Comments
Anonymous
May 16, 2010 - 12:59 amI just hope I'm there when he throws his first no-hitter. And that he's a Blue Jay when it happens, because it will.
Restaunique
May 16, 2010 - 3:10 amGreat recap – love the one ball or fewer stat – and the use of fewer instead of less.
Ian H.
May 16, 2010 - 3:33 amAnon, out of all the pitchers on the staff right now, I would say that Romero has the highest probability of throwing a no-hitter. Marcum comes a close second, but he can't seem to go as deep into games as Romero can. If it ever happens, it will be quite a sight!
Restaunique, it's definitely a telltale sign of the game for Romero. Because he kept command of the strike zone and didn't get deep into counts, he always had the opportunity to throw his offspeed pitches. What a game!
Mattt
May 16, 2010 - 10:16 amIsn't a golden sombrerofive strikeouts or is it striking out every at bat in one game?
Ian H.
May 16, 2010 - 2:09 pmMattt, I think striking out five times in a game is a platinum sombrero (otherwise known as the "Who Gives A F*ck Alex Rios Night").
Mattt
May 16, 2010 - 8:05 pmYou are correct. Not sure why I temporarily forgot the golden sombrero stats. Saw a couple more regular sombreros today…
Ian H.
May 17, 2010 - 1:54 amYes! Can't recall both of them off the top of my head, but Cruz was one of them. Hamilton also struck out a couple times and looked really bad this series.
Anonymous
May 17, 2010 - 11:50 amRick Diculous
Love that!