New Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher Ranks Inside Top 15 of Crucial Advanced Metric
![Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jordan Romano pitches during the eighth inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers. Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jordan Romano pitches during the eighth inning of the game against the Detroit Tigers.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_4892,h_2751,x_0,y_270/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/inside_the_phillies/01jjqbdhgq2rm8z4473n.jpg)
The Philadelphia Phillies have made a decent amount of offseason acquisitions leading up to the 2025 campaign, and one of them had an exceptional showing last year when it comes to the advanced metric "Stuff+."
For context, Stuff+ is a way to look at the physical components of each pitch type from one player, such as vertical and horizontal break, velocity, spin rate, and release point, all of which are compared against the average run value of each pitch type the player has to creat one singular grade.
It is a statistic that is not heavily reliant on innings pitched or games played, and rather focuses heavily on the pitches themselves and whether or not the pitcher has "stuff", hence the name.
One recent acquisition made by the Phillies is among the top 15 players in this metric per BrooksGate, and that player is relief pitcher Jordan Romano.
He joined Philadelphia in December of this offseason as a free agent, signing a one-year $8.5 million deal to be a key part of their bullpen. Romano missed much of the 2024 season after having surgery to repair a throwing arm impingement, and that resulted in him playing only 15 games throughout the year.
When it comes to standard metrics, he did not particularly have a great season, pitching 13.2 innings with a 6.59 ERA, 1.463 WHIP, 13 strikeouts to four walks, eight saves, and four home runs allowed, which heavily impacted his runs allowed total.
Ultimately, it was a down year for a player who had an exceptional start to his career, with a 2.90 or less ERA in the four seasons prior to 2024 and 105 career saves as well.
However, when it came to Stuff+, it is clear that Romano still had good pitches.
He was tied for 14th place in 2024 Stuff+, knotted up with Aroldis Chapman, Tommy Nance, and Griffin Jax with a grade of 134.
For reference, the highest grade in this category was Calvin Faucher at 148, and the top 10 cuts off at 139, so Romano was not particularly far off of being in the elite portion of this group.
At the moment Romano is likely to end up being the closer for the Phillies, at least entering the season. With that, the concerns regarding his 2024 ERA are there, and coming off an injury, high-leverage situations are a hard thing to start off with.
But, when it comes down to the physical attributes of Romano's pitching, he still has the same level of elite stuff, which is why Philadelphia took a shot on him entering 2025.
Now, they will continue to work on adding bullpen help to ensure their roster is fully sorted before the start of the season.