It’s been more than a decade since former Nevada baseball standout and current St. Louis Cardinals’ left-handed pitcher JoJo Romero suited up at Peccole Park, but he vividly remembers his time in the Biggest Little City. <\/p>\n
“That was fun,” Romero said during the Cardinals stop in Sacramento to play the Athletics. “I kind of went in as a starter and not a whole lot of expectations on what I would do other than just kind of learning how to be a college athlete. I think the biggest thing was trying to put weight on. I went in at 150 pounds. I was a little scrawny lefty, and I think by the time we got toward season I was, like, 185 pounds or something like that, so I put on a lot of weight. The freshman 15 wasn’t so much freshman 15 for me. I think it was fun just being able to understand what that environment was like and then we had a great year. We had some great guys there. Austin Byler, it was fun to be part of his journey there, and we kind of kept in touch after college, too, and just seeing what he’s doing now. It was really fun what we had going.”<\/p>\n
The Oxnard, Calif., native helped Nevada win its first Mountain West title in program history in 2015. The Wolf Pack was ranked No. 23 in the nation entering the final week of the regular season but dropped its last three games and went from being in the national conversation to snubbed of an NCAA Regional at-large berth. Romero transferred to Yavapai College in 2016 after Nevada coach Jay Johnson left for Arizona. <\/p>\n
Romero was planning to follow Johnson to Arizona after his junior-college year but was drafted that season by the Philadelphia Phillies as a fourth-round pick, No. 107 overall, and turned pro in 2016. Romero made his major-league debut in 2020 and was dealt to St. Louis in 2022. He said he learned a lot during his one season with Johnson, who has since won two national titles at LSU. <\/p>\n
“I think the biggest thing that I learned there was how to compete,” Romero said. “He loves to compete, loves to bring out the best in everyone and very focused on the details. I think that’s what you see a lot where every stop he’s been, whether it was with us in Reno, out in Arizona and then now at LSU. They’re very, very tuned in on the small details of the game, and I think just with that aspect and that sheer competitiveness that he brought, he brings it every single day because he’s always fired up in the dugout, whether it’s the first inning, last inning, whatever it is. And I think that’s something I still kind of carry with me.”<\/p>\n