Baseball: Former Highlander Joins The Show for the Colorado Rockies

DENVER, CO -- Former Woodlands Highlander Drew Romo joins the MLB following a roster change with the Colorado Rockies on Friday.

The Rockies took Romo in the 2020 MLB Draft at the 35th overall selection. His placement in the draft proved that the Rockies had faith in the young startup. Still, the necessary move into Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate, the Albuquerque Isotopes, allowed Romo to get in the essential reps to catch up to near-professional levels.

But, before his matchup against Sugar Land, Romo received the call that he had been promoted onto the Rockies’ 40-man roster ahead of their Saturday game against the San Diego Padres.

The promotion comes on the heels of the Rockies unconditionally releasing the only All-Star catcher in the team’s history, Elias Diaz. Free agency was looming for Diaz at the end of the season, and with Romo slated to make his MLB debut before that point, it seemed like the most natural decision for both parties.

The expectation between Rockies management and Romo is that there will be some learning curves before the production can ramp up. This was evident in Romo’s first career start against the Padres on Saturday, where the fresh talent went 0-for-4 on at-bats including one strikeout.

It comes as no surprise that a quick promotion on Friday into a Saturday Major League debut played a role in the performance and went into the team’s decision to remove Romo from their Sunday lineup. But, the valuable experience of being able to acclimate to a new lineup, new team, and new atmosphere is welcome.

The dubbed “Catcher of the Future” by Purplerow still has some time before he can truly live up to the title, but every journey begins with a single step. For Romo, that professional journey begins now.

*Photo Credit to Denver Gazette*