Jordan Romano isn’t chasing the past. He’s building it back with the Rockies.

Feedzy​  ​​Read More​     Jordan Romano knows what it feels like to be one of the best relievers in baseball. He has been there.Two All-Star appearances, 105 saves with the Toronto Blue Jays, and a stretch from 2021 through 2023 where he was, on most nights, simply unhittable. A 6-foot-5 right-hander from Markham, Ontario, with a fastball that backed hitters off the plate and a 2.90 ERA across his six seasons in Toronto, Romano was, for several years, one of the most reliable ninth-inning arms in the American League.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThen the right elbow gave out.Romano underwent arthroscopic surgery in July 2024 to repair an impingement. He made just 15 appearances in 2024, posted a 6.59 ERA, and watched Toronto non-tender him that winter.He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies 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 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.Now, sitting in the Arizona heat at the Rockies’ Scottsdale facility — days before his assignment to Triple-A Albuquerque — Romano was throwing off the mound for the third time in a week and talking about energy transfer.The reason he chose Colorado, of all the places he could have landed, comes down to one name: Matt Buschmann.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe Rockies bullpen coach was on Romano’s 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, Romano called Buschmann. He liked what he heard about the people the organization had brought in. He spoke with pitching personnel — Owen Cuffee and Emilio Martinez among them — and came away convinced this was the right environment to do the work.“I really like the stuff they’re doing, the new guys they hired,” Romano said. “I talked to Owen and Emilio — 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.”The work, in his telling, is specific. The mechanics of how he transfers energy through his delivery — the sequencing, the timing, the feel of it translating from bullpen session to live game — is where he is spending most of his time. It is unglamorous and incremental, the kind of thing that doesn’t show up in a stat line.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSome days it clicks.Some days it doesn’t.“I’m trying to get to the point where my delivery is doing what I’ve been working on without really thinking about it,” he said. “Muscle memory. I feel like we’re almost there. It’s kind of exciting.”He is also working on a new s