He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies<\/a> for $8.5 million in 2025, trying to recapture his elite form. Romano made 49 appearances, posted an 8.23 ERA across 42.2 innings, and ended the season on the IL with right middle finger inflammation. He then signed with the Los Angeles Angels<\/a> over the winter on a major league deal and made the Opening Day roster, but lasted 11 appearances before being released on April 27 with a 10.13 ERA across eight innings. The Angels chapter lasted less than a month.<\/p>\n Now, sitting in the Arizona<\/a> heat at the Rockies\u2019 Scottsdale facility \u2014 days before his assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque \u2014 Romano was throwing off the mound for the third time in a week and talking about energy transfer.<\/p>\n The reason he chose Colorado, of all the places he could have landed, comes down to one name: Matt Buschmann<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n The Rockies bullpen coach was on Romano\u2019s staff in Toronto for several years, and Romano credits him as a significant piece of his success during that run. When the opportunity to sign with Colorado emerged<\/a>, Romano called Buschmann. He liked what he heard about the people the organization had brought in. He spoke with pitching personnel \u2014 Owen Cuffee and Emilio Martinez among them \u2014 and came away convinced this was the right environment to do the work.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like the stuff they\u2019re doing, the new guys they hired,\u201d Romano said. \u201cI talked to Owen and Emilio \u2014 really smart guys. I decided this is probably the best fit for me to work on my stuff, get better down here, and help contribute up there.\u201d<\/p>\n Rebuilding the delivery<\/p>\n The work, in his telling, is specific. The mechanics of how he transfers energy through his delivery \u2014 the sequencing, the timing, the feel of it translating from bullpen session to live game \u2014 is where he is spending most of his time. It is unglamorous and incremental, the kind of thing that doesn\u2019t show up in a stat line.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Some days it clicks.<\/p>\n Some days it doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying to get to the point where my delivery is doing what I\u2019ve been working on without really thinking about it,\u201d he said. \u201cMuscle memory. I feel like we\u2019re almost there. It\u2019s kind of exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n He is also working on a new splitter grip \u2014 one he believes gives him better command of the pitch and more movement \u2014 and on generating more velocity overall. The combination of a tuned-up delivery and a sharper splitter, in his mind, is the difference between the pitcher he has been recently and the pitcher he knows he can be.<\/p>\n Finding joy in the process<\/p>\n What is striking about Romano, sitting in the ACL clubhouse in early June, is how unbothered he seems by any of it. This is his fourth organization in three years \u2014 Toronto, Philadelphia, Los Angeles<\/a>, and now Colorado. \u2014 and he has developed a kind of institutional fluency for the transition.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cThe first two weeks, you\u2019re kind of learning everyone\u2019s name,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then after two weeks, it\u2019s kind of like \u2014 everyone\u2019s been cool here.\u201d<\/p>\n He does not come off as bitter about the way things have gone. He is not performing enthusiasm that he doesn\u2019t feel. He genuinely seems to enjoy the process.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing I like most about baseball is, like, the performing is amazing,\u201d he said, \u201cbut the working on stuff \u2014 you\u2019re trying to do something, and then you see it kind of click. That\u2019s the best feeling for me.\u201d<\/p>\n He paused. \u201cGet down here, get in the trenches a little bit, work on your stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n The road back to Coors<\/p>\n He has pitched at Coors Field before. He knows what it asks of a pitcher \u2014 the way breaking balls behave differently in thin air, the necessary adjustments in pitch locations.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to set your sights a little differently with your breaking balls,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I actually enjoy it. It\u2019s a beautiful park.\u201d<\/p>\n He wants to get back there. He is not racing toward it. One step at a time, he said. Get the delivery right first. Let the rest follow.<\/p>\n For a pitcher who was, not long ago, one of the most reliable closers in the American League, the patience required to rebuild something from the ground up in Triple-A in June is not nothing.<\/p>\n But Romano doesn\u2019t frame it as patience.<\/p>\n He frames it as a preference.<\/p>\n The work itself, he says, is that part he loves. The competing and feeling good \u2014 that\u2019s what he\u2019s building toward.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it\u2019s not as fun competing when you know you\u2019re a little off, or you don\u2019t feel right,\u201d he said. \u201cCompeting and feeling good \u2014 that\u2019s going to be fun. That\u2019s honestly one of the better feelings you can have.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s close. He said so himself. From a guy who has had every reason to stop believing it, that counted for something.<\/p>\n Join the conversation!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/a691d3b345a54dbc09726b40dbeffce7.jpeg\"\/)
Choosing Colorado<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/8f3ec18e875ec29b8a3634575cdb6f91.jpeg\"\/)
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