FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox 2022 first round draft pick Mikey Romero spent most of the 2023 season at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, where he rehabbed a low back injury. He went out to dinner one evening with some fellow rehabbing teammates, including pitcher Jaret Godman.
“(Godman) was talking about how he was going to church,” Romero said. “And for whatever reason, what I now know was the Holy Spirit working in me, it was just telling me, ‘You should go. You should ask him if you can go.’ I asked him if I could go and ever since then my life has been changed.”
The 19-year-old Romero not only worked out regularly with Trevor Story at JetBlue Park and received important tips from the two-time All-Star shortstop. He also began attending church and got baptized in Fort Myers.
“I definitely would say it was a disappointing year overall on the baseball-side of things,” Romero said at the Red Sox’s Fall Performance Program in September. “Just not being healthy and not being able to play the way I wanted to just because of injuries and stuff. It sucked to have my first year of pro ball be that way. But I got baptized and I came to know the Lord. I’m grateful for the year. Even though I was hurt, I’m grateful for everything that happened. I learned a lot and I’m really excited just to get going at spring training this coming year and just continue my relationship with the Lord.”
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Boston selected the left-handed hitter 24th overall in ‘22 out of Orange Lutheran High in Orange, Calif. Baseball America ranked him the Red Sox’s No. 6 prospect entering 2023 after he batted .304 with a .368 on-base percentage, .506 slugging percentage, .874 OPS, one homer, seven doubles, three triples and 17 RBIs in 19 games (87 plate appearances) between the Florida Complex League and Low-A Salem last season.
But he has dropped to No. 19 on Baseball America’s Red Sox Top 30 list after his back injury limited him to just 34 games (144 plate appearances) in 2023.
He missed the first two and a half months before beginning a rehab assignment in the Florida Complex League on June 23. The Salem Red Sox activated him July 6. He appeared in 23 games there, then received a promotion to High-A Greenville on Aug. 15. But he landed on Greenville’s IL just four days later with what he said was “a bone injury” in his back. He returned to Fort Myers where he remained the rest of the season. He said the injury was in the same area of his back both times.
“It was really weird,” he said. “I left here feeling great and I was good, ready to go. The injury was just kind of random. I wasn’t having any issues leading up to it. It was kind of the last thing I was thinking about. I was looking forward to finishing off the year. And then it got cut short.”
He called it an overuse injury. He said it didn’t require a procedure, just rest.
“Now my bone’s healing and my body is in a much better position,” he said. “So now we just have to let it heal.”
Romero feels good about the hard contact he made when he did play this season.
“With the short amount of time I had this year playing, I definitely would say that I just was focusing on barreling the ball,” Romero said. “In Salem, you look at my stat line, it wasn’t that good.”
Romero batted only .217 with a .288 on-base percentage, .304 slugging percentage, .592 OPS, four doubles and two triples in 23 games (105 plate appearances) at Salem.
“But I was barreling the ball; hitting the ball really hard,” Romero said. “I would say my approach at the plate is just to put the barrel on the ball. That’s my thing: hitting the ball hard. You just keep on hitting the ball hard, it’s gonna drop at some point. Baseball is one of those games where you can hit a ball 110 or 105 (mph) and it’s caught. And that seemed to happen a lot to me, unfortunately. And it’s just one of those games where the ball’s going to drop eventually. So you’ve just gotta keep putting good swings on it.”
Story — who spent time in Fort Myers rehabbing his surgically-repaired shoulder — said Romero has “loose hands” when he swings and “looks like a natural hitter.” He said Romero and Boston top prospect Marcelo Mayer both have similar swings.
Both Romero’s Baseball America and MLB Pipeline scouting reports describe his swing as “sweet.”
Baseball America wrote, “Romero has a sweet lefthanded swing with little stride or wasted motion. His barrel is a magnet for pitches all over the zone, producing gap-to-gap, line-drive contact. While Romero was viewed as having limited power projection by many scouts, he added strength throughout his senior year. By the time he turned pro, he was able to clear the right field bullpens at Fenway Park in batting practice, suggesting an average power ceiling.”
MLB Pipeline wrote, “Romero’s quick left-handed swing and mature approach gave him some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the 2022 prep class. He focuses on making contact from gap to gap and isn’t very physical, leading to some concerns about how much impact he’ll provide at the plate. He does have bat speed and hitting aptitude and has gotten stronger in the last year, so he should be able to provide 15-20 homers on an annual basis.”
“For me, it’s just about seeing the ball up,” Romero said. “I’m pretty good at spitting on the fastball that’s up in the zone. So offspeed and curveballs, just seeing them up and trying to elevate it and drive it into the gaps. When two strikes comes, taking your hits when you get them. Not trying to necessarily be a hero. Just taking your hits and just being a pro about it.”
Story said Romero has “a lot of smooth actions” and “very athletic moves” at shortstop. Who better to learn from than Story who had eight defensive runs saved in just 314 innings at shortstop this past season? Story plays the position fast and often makes throws on the run.
“Defensively, it’s all about cutting down angles and getting to the ball and getting the ball to first base and being able to put a good throw and getting yourself in a good position to make a good throw,” Romero said. “And that was a lot of what I learned from him — just getting yourself in the right position to make a good throw, whether that’s how you present your glove to the ball or just how you’re transferring the ball to your hand. I learned all that from him, especially on the run. Just trying to be more efficient and put good throws on first base.
“Just a guy of his caliber willing to work with a first-year guy like me, it was really cool,” Romero added. “We worked out every day together. We texted a little bit when he left and he’s just a good dude. I learned a lot from him on the defensive and offensive side of things. Just the mind game and being able to stay sharp up top, because that’s really the separator. And I think that’s what I learned from him — just the work ethic, the routine, just doing everything you can to stay healthy, stay on the field. And once you’re on the field, play well.”
Romero has multiple religious tattoos on his arm, including Saint Michael, Jesus on the cross and praying hands. He also has a tattoo of the date he was drafted and the words, “Die with memories, not dreams.”
“I grew up praying a little bit. I didn’t really understand it,” Romero said. “But when you understand what Jesus has done for us, how he died on the cross for our sins, it changes your life and it just changes your perspective on things and the way you want to go about your business, the way you want to treat people. And just be good. Be a good person, biblically be a good person and just help people and serve others. You learn a lot about yourself. And it was really good that I had that this year.”
His goal going into next year simply is to be healthy for a full season.
“Be healthy and be ready to go at the start of the year,” he said. “Have a good spring training and be ready to go really. I want to play well and I want to move up the system but I know I have to be healthy to do that. So I think the main focus is just getting healthy, getting stronger and then come into spring training just firing.”
Other stories from the Red Sox’s Fall Performance Program:
New Red Sox OF prospect beat cancer, cousin ‘saved’ his life with tackle
Red Sox prospect plays with Pedroia ‘mentality,’ saw ‘08 MVP just miss feat
‘Muscular’ Red Sox C prospect has ‘5 hole’ power, cool reason for catching
Top Red Sox prospect with ‘best’ fastball (98 mph) studies Justin Verlander
Red Sox prospect up to 97 mph ‘motivated’ by mentor Brayan Bello, ex-roomie
Red Sox power-hitting C prospect read Ted Williams’ book ‘a million times’
Red Sox’ Nate Eovaldi comp pick went ‘straight to’ mall after being drafted
Red Sox’ Xander Bogaerts comp pick ‘a tough out,’ ‘elite’ in important area
