Blue Jays Activate Closer Jordan Romano

Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano has recovered from his lower-back pain and was activated off the injured list.

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The Blue Jays' ninth-inning man is back.

Toronto activated closer Jordan Romano from the 15-day injured list on Tuesday ahead of a series against the Phillies. Romano has been out since July 29th with lower back inflammation.

Romano's back pain first flared up at the 2023 MLB All-Star game in July and he re-aggravated the injury late last month. While Romano pitched through the injury at times, the Jays decided to give him 15 days off to get fully healthy for the stretch run.

After taking a few days off, Romano began throwing again before going out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Buffalo over the weekend. The righty pitched a lone inning with the Bisons on Sunday, allowing two singles and no runs. After a day off on Monday, the club activated Romano to the MLB squad.

Prior to the injury, Romano was putting up another strong season as the Blue Jays closer. He has a 2.79 ERA in 42 innings pitched with 51 strikeouts and 28 saves.

Romano returns to give an already strong Blue Jays bullpen yet another late-inning arm to call on. Tuesday's game will be the first contest since the trade deadline where John Schneider will have all of Romano, Erik Swanson, Yimi Garcia, Tim Mayza, and the recently-acquired Jordan Hicks available. On the season, Toronto's relievers are rocking the fourth-best ERA in baseball (3.60).