Red Sox 2022 first-round pick says early difficulties “changed my life for the better”

MANCHESTER, NH — It's hard to imagine that Mikey Romero's first full year as a professional baseball player could have gone any worse.

Months after being selected No. 24 overall by the Red Sox in the 2022 MLB Draft, Romero suffered an offseason back injury that lingered into spring training and stubbornly refused to heal. What began as a stress reaction eventually developed into a full-blown stress fracture and ultimately derailed what should have been the most successful year of his baseball career yet.

But ask Romero and he will tell you that the last year was one of the most important of his life.

“Last year is a year I never want to give up on because it changed my life for the better and made me the man I'm going to be for the rest of my life,” Romero said. “I got engaged last offseason, I'm getting married in November, a lot of good things have come out of something that wasn't that good from the outside.”

Although early career setbacks set him back compared to his peers, Romero has put injury behind him and is finally starting to show the immense talent that made him a first-round pick. Now he's nearing the end of a successful comeback season that was capped with his recent promotion to Double-A Portland.

Romero, a 20-year-old shortstop, earned his call-up after posting a .271 batting average with 10 home runs, 40 RBI and an .817 OPS in 59 games at High-A Greenville. He has shown no signs of slowing down since then, hitting three home runs in his first five games with the Portland Sea Dogs heading into this week's series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

“Finish strong, finish healthy, go into the offseason ready to train and get big, because nobody in the major leagues is small,” Romero said when asked what his goals were for the final two weeks. “Just get big and come back next year, and whether I'm knocking on the door at Triple-A or starting here next year, I just have to have a good offseason and finish this year strong.”

Romero doesn't take his health for granted. His back injury last year limited him to just 34 hitless games, in which he posted a .214 batting average and didn't hit a home run in 34 games. He spent a lot of time rehabbing in Fort Myers, and one bright spot from his experience was getting the chance to work with Trevor Story, who was also working on his recovery from elbow surgery the previous offseason.

“The way he carries himself is something you hear: 'Act like a professional,' and I look at him and think, 'Okay, that's how I should act,'” Romero said. “The conversations and working with him are something I will remember for the rest of my career.”

Romero's rehab and recovery process continued into this past spring training, but he was finally able to return to the field in Greenville and settle back into a normal routine. After taking enough hits, something finally clicked, and about two weeks after the All-Star break, Romero had an epic performance, posting a .446 batting average with eight home runs in 13 games.

“I think it was about getting comfortable again, seeing the pitches, getting to swing, getting back up to game speed and facing real competition,” he said.

Unfortunately, Romero's winning streak was abruptly ended by another setback. This time it was a concussion that he suffered when a ground ball hit him in the head in a freak accident on the field.

Fittingly, the injury occurred on the same field where he had sustained the stress fracture a year earlier.

“Winston-Salem hates me,” Romero joked. “I hit a ground ball that was like a chopper. It wasn't crazy hard, but I had turned my head and our third baseman was coming over and we both missed it and it hit me right in the face.”

Fortunately, the injury was not serious and Romero was reinstated about a week later. He was called up to Portland shortly after on August 26th and has since quickly impressed his new manager with his mature play and amazing skills.

“The power is definitely there. Some of the balls he's hit as home runs, you could call them big boy pop,” Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson said. “His stance isn't particularly big, but he's strong and can generate some bat speed, so that's something that's definitely stood out.”

Were it not for his injuries, Romero could potentially be viewed in a similar light as other top draft picks like his draft classmate Roman Anthony or Marcelo Mayer, Boston's first-round pick last year and a close friend from Southern California travel ball. Romero said he's happy for his fellow prospects and impressed with everything they've accomplished, but he also believes things are going as planned and that if he continues to work hard, he'll reach his goal.

“You want to be on the field and get to the big leagues, but sometimes the plan just doesn't look like it. In the long run, I think last year was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Romero said. “I have a good routine now, I'm sticking with that routine and I'm going to keep that routine for the rest of my playing career.”