Sergio Romo made headlines in May when the Tampa Bay Rays deployed him in a new hybrid bullpen role — the opener — to start games, gain an advantage over the top of opposing team’s lineups, and reduce their opportunity to build offensive momentum.
It was a mix bag of results — Romo struck out the side on May 19th, and later gave up 3 runs in 0.1 IP on May 27th — but the bold strategy raised eyebrows and piqued the curiosity of many baseball minds who are always trying to find innovative ways to help their teams win.