BIOGRAPHY
Tommy Romero was born July 8, 1997, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He is a pitcher in the MLB.
Romero graduated from Coral Springs Charter School in 2015. Unselected in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at Polk State College where he played baseball. After his freshman year in 2016, he transferred to Eastern Florida State College. As a sophomore in 2017, he won nine games, compiled a 1.13 ERA, and led the NJCAA in strikeouts with 136. After his sophomore season, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 15th round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft. Romero signed and made his professional debut with the Rookie-level Arizona League Mariners, going 5-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 43+1⁄3 innings pitched. He began 2018 with the Clinton LumberKings of the Class A Midwest League.
On May 25, 2018, the Mariners traded Romero and Andrew Moore to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Denard Span and Álex Colomé. He was assigned to the Bowling Green Hot Rods of the Class A Midwest League, with whom he was named an All-Star. In 25 total starts between Clinton and Bowling Green, he went 11-4 with a 2.95 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. He spent a majority of the 2019 season with the Charlotte Stone Crabs of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, pitching to a 12-4 record with a 1.89 ERA over 23 games (18 starts), striking out 103 over 119+1⁄3 innings. He made one spot start for the Montgomery Biscuits of the Class AA Southern League at the end of the season. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 since the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That winter, he played for Criollos de Caguas of the Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC). He also played for Puerto Rico in the 2021 Caribbean Series.
To begin the 2021 season, Romero was assigned back to Montgomery, now members of the Double-A South. After pitching to a 1-0 record with a 1.88 ERA and 75 strikeouts over 48 innings, he was promoted to the Durham Bulls of the Triple-A East in July. He earned Triple-A East Pitcher of the Month honors for September after going 5-0 with a 0.31 ERA over five starts. Over 12 total starts with Durham, Romero went 7-2 with a 3.18 ERA and seventy strikeouts over 62+1⁄3 innings.
On November 19, 2021, the Rays selected Romero's contract and added him to the 40-man roster.
