Rowdy Romy Gonzalez

[LoLsapien]

With a pinch-hit that scored two and tied the game enroute to a win, it seems that Rowdy Romy deserves his own thread. Acquired off waivers in the off-season from the lowly White Sox, the 27 year-old has, in 55 plate appearances on the year, halved his K rate (to 18%) and tripled his walk rate (to 7%) versus prior years. While Romy has virtually no extra base hits to show for it, statcast indicates that he's got exceptional foot speed (90th percentile) and bat speed and has hit the ball hard (46% HH). Perhaps a tweak to his launch angle (3.5 degrees) would do the trick?

To be honest, I'm not sure Romy has a long-term future with this team. Sometimes it's better not to look too far into the future, or too deep into the numbers, and just enjoy the ride. Regardless, Rowdy Romy has already made this summer a little more fun. And for that, I'm grateful!

Run on, Romy!

 

[simplicio]

You didn't mention his defense. To my eye he's our best defensive SS, plus he's played another 5 positions in his 23 games on top of that. He's like Brock Holt with way more tools, if he can stay healthy.

He hit 20 HR in 78 games in AA three years ago, but he keeps getting hurt; he was sidelined with shoulder inflammation for most of last year that sapped his power. He's never played in more than 103 games (across all levels) in a season.

I think he and Rafaela together offer tremendous defensive flexibility in a way that's not captured by stats. We've all known Cora for a while now and this year I think there's been a pretty dramatic shift in how proactively he's managing pinch hitters and defensive subs, and I think that's mostly down to Romy and Rafa making that a possibility to begin with.

 

[Rovin Romine]

He is a combination of Brock Holt's versatility and Arroyo's injurability.

 

[Brohamer of the Gods]

He is a combination of Brock Holt's versatility and Arroyo's injurability.

Broyo!

 

[Cassvt2023]

You didn't mention his defense. To my eye he's our best defensive SS, plus he's played another 5 positions in his 23 games on top of that. He's like Brock Holt with way more tools, if he can stay healthy.

He hit 20 HR in 78 games in AA three years ago, but he keeps getting hurt; he was sidelined with shoulder inflammation for most of last year that sapped his power. He's never played in more than 103 games (across all levels) in a season.

I think he and Rafaela together offer tremendous defensive flexibility in a way that's not captured by stats. We've all known Cora for a while now and this year I think there's been a pretty dramatic shift in how proactively he's managing pinch hitters and defensive subs, and I think that's mostly down to Romy and Rafa making that a possibility to begin with.

I agree with all of this. Cora seems to really like the pieces he has to work with right now, and having 3-4 guys in a row with blazing speed in the lineup (Duran, Hamilton, Romy, Rafaela) puts a ton of pressure on the defense and pitcher and creates opportunities and extends innings. Love this brand of baseball.

 

[johnnyfromspain]

Broyo!

I believe the medley is complete if we add David Roberts' speed, which is a vital component of Romy's game.

 

[Rovin Romine]

I believe the medley is complete if we add David Roberts' speed, which is a vital component of Romy's game.

Possibly Buckner's 'stache as well.

 

[azsoxpatsfan]

He is a combination of Brock Holt's versatility and Arroyo's injurability.

In another thread, someone mentioned Romy’s pedigree. Arroyo is immediately who I thought of

 

[Fishy1]

In another thread, someone mentioned Romy’s pedigree. Arroyo is immediately who I thought of

Mmm, this is fair. Romy actually hit in the upper minor leagues for a sustained period of time. In 2021 Romy put up a wrc+ of about 150 between AA and AAA. He lost 2022 and 2023 to injury basically, and he's missed time this year too. obviously.

Arroyo had sporadic sprees of hitting in the minors of about 100-200 plate appearances but was ultimately always pretty middling over the course of a full season. And obviously he was about league average as a hitter for the Sox for 130 games or so, and about an average defender.

I'm a Romy bandwagon guy, and agree with @LoLsapien that what's most encouraging about him is that he seems to have figured out the K rate stuff at least temporarily. (He had an K rate of about 17% in AAA in a SSS as well). He's also a better fielder and baserunner than Arroyo was. We're dealing with really small sample sizes, but this is a fun Savant page.

 

[Rovin Romine]

Arroyo, BTW, was in the IF mix for the Brewers but got injured in ST - wrist. He's just now getting healthy and has played 6 games in AAA. Still looking for his first hit though.

 

[nvalvo]

In another thread, someone mentioned Romy’s pedigree. Arroyo is immediately who I thought of

Well, the way you get those guys is that other teams give up on them. And other teams give up on them because they can’t stay healthy.