Orioles #24 Prospect Drew Rom - LHP

[Tony-OH]

Drew Rom
Throws: LHP
Age (as of Jun 30th): 22
2022 Level: AA/AAA

Bio: No pitcher in the system threw more innings than this 22-year old lefty who ended up reaching AAA for seven starts, but overall, it was an up and down year for him. While the K/9 of 10.8 was still very good, Rom’s stuff has just never really taken a step forward and that showed has he faced the better hitters in AA and AAA. While his FIP (3.48) was much better than his 4.43 ERA overall suggesting he was unlucky, it’s hard to look at the stuff and see how it projects in the majors unless he adds something or significantly improves his changeup.

Rom’s fastball has never been much to talk about at 89-92 MPH, but he has touched 93-94 on occasional and he gets some swing and miss on the pitch in the upper part of the zone suggesting good spin rates. Rom’s bread and butter pitch are his breaking balls that both can get outstanding horizontal movement and were his go to pitches even to righties when he wanted a strikeout. Depending on the day, the curveball that came in around 79-80, or the slider that sat 84-85, was his pitch if choice. When he was successful, he was able to use them both.

Rom could get away with his middling fastball if he had a good changeup, but after years of trying to find a grip he can use effectively, he continues to show little consistent feel for the pitch. If he can ever master the pitch or at least find one that he consistently use against righties, he could end up a back of the rotation starter.

The good news with Rom is that he doesn’t panic on the mound and while his walk rate went up this season, it looked to be more about him trying to be too fine with his pitches when he got hit a little.

If his change doesn’t come around there is still a chance that Rom could find value as a bulk reliever or even a lefty reliever specialist. Rom will most likely start the year in Norfolk and should make his major league debut at some point depending on team needs and how he’s performing in AAA.

[Frobby]

This is probably the one guy who I hope Tony’s too pessimistic about.  I’m always a sucker for lefties with good command who don’t light up the radar gun.  

[Tony-OH]

5 minutes ago, Frobby said:

This is probably the one guy who I hope Tony’s too pessimistic about.  I’m always a sucker for lefties with good command who don’t light up the radar gun.  

I'm snakebit on these kinds of guys after the failure of Lowther and Wells. Not a lot of belief on him from the scouting side. For me, he has to find a way to throw an effective changeup to even consider having success against major league righties.

[Jim'sKid26]

So does he find himself at the Sarasota facility or the Bel Air facility working with an instructor to develop an effective off speed pitch. Seems like a guy who could really benefit from time spent with someone like Scotty McGregor.

[Frobby]

3 minutes ago, Jim'sKid26 said:

So does he find himself at the Sarasota facility or the Bel Air facility working with an instructor to develop an effective off speed pitch. Seems like a guy who could really benefit from time spent with someone like Scotty McGregor.

From Melewski last week:

Now that offseason work really kicks in and will include, he said, some mechanics tweaks to produce more power from his lower half. And fine tuning the changeup.

“Toward the end of the season this year at Norfolk I felt a (changeup) grip that I liked and used it more and more down the stretch," Rom said. "I think I’ve found it can be a weapon and something to hammer home this offseason.”

Let’s hope he found something that will help him in 2023.   It really seems like different grips work for different pitchers.

[nvpacchi]

14 minutes ago, Frobby said:

From Melewski last week:

Now that offseason work really kicks in and will include, he said, some mechanics tweaks to produce more power from his lower half. And fine tuning the changeup.

“Toward the end of the season this year at Norfolk I felt a (changeup) grip that I liked and used it more and more down the stretch," Rom said. "I think I’ve found it can be a weapon and something to hammer home this offseason.”

Let’s hope he found something that will help him in 2023.   It really seems like different grips work for different pitchers.

I was just coming to ask about the bolded, thanks for posting!  I was curious if there was any work going into getting more out of his legs.  He's a thick boy, I hope there's another 2 ticks of velo in those hips!

[Frobby]

17 minutes ago, nvpacchi said:

I was just coming to ask about the bolded, thanks for posting!  I was curious if there was any work going into getting more out of his legs.  He's a thick boy, I hope there's another 2 ticks of velo in those hips!

First time I’ve heard Rom described as “thick.”  He’s listed at 6’2”, 170 lbs.  Of course, we know some of these listings can be very inaccurate and out of date.  I’ve never laid eyes on Rom, but was surprised to see him described this way.  

[Tony-OH]

44 minutes ago, Frobby said:

From Melewski last week:

Now that offseason work really kicks in and will include, he said, some mechanics tweaks to produce more power from his lower half. And fine tuning the changeup.

“Toward the end of the season this year at Norfolk I felt a (changeup) grip that I liked and used it more and more down the stretch," Rom said. "I think I’ve found it can be a weapon and something to hammer home this offseason.”

Let’s hope he found something that will help him in 2023.   It really seems like different grips work for different pitchers.

Yes, read that, but he did not pitch well at all down the stretch so take all of that with a grain of salt. Rom has been trying to develop this change for years. He knows that he needs to add that pitch. 

Until we see it consistently in successful outings, it's nothing more than talk.

[Tony-OH]

8 minutes ago, Frobby said:

First time I’ve heard Rom described as “thick.”  He’s listed at 6’2”, 170 lbs.  Of course, we know some of these listings can be very inaccurate and out of date.  I’ve never laid eyes on Rom, but was surprised to see him described this way.  

He's definitely much heavier than 170. I don't know why these heights and weights aren't updated on players each year. 

Rom definitely is a bit thick in his lower half and that's one of the reasons why I'm not sure there's a lot more to come velocity wise. Now some pitchers have been able to increase velocity or late, so I would never say never, but Rom looks like he filled out a bit, but only had marginal velocity gains.

[Pickles]

This is one of the reasons I appreciate these write-ups so much.  I've been pretty high on Rom as he's climbed the system, but it's solely based on performance and stats.  Getting Tony's insight on why his stuff won't play, despite the K #s he's amassed, is needed to get a full picture of the prospect.

That said, I still think he has a chance to be a ML starter, and obviously I hope he takes whatever developmental step he needs to in order to get there.

[LookinUp]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

This is one of the reasons I appreciate these write-ups so much.  I've been pretty high on Rom as he's climbed the system, but it's solely based on performance and stats.  Getting Tony's insight on why his stuff won't play, despite the K #s he's amassed, is needed to get a full picture of the prospect.

That said, I still think he has a chance to be a ML starter, and obviously I hope he takes whatever developmental step he needs to in order to get there.

This is so true. We get snippets during the season, but there are a lot of people who rank guys based on stats or national guys. I feel like I'm way more informed after reading Tony's takes.

My weakness is the belief in future development. To me, every failed QB can be Geno Smith if they have the tools, even though I know it's not true. Every Drew Rom can eventually get the feel for that change up and fix his profile weaknesses. Every Estrada can fill out enough to hit for power and learn to play 2b.

But they're all prospects. Some that we don't expect will flourish and others who we expect to be really good will be traded away and flail. That's the sport.

Edited November 28, 2022 by LookinUp
typos