Phillies Castoff Tuns Heads As Saves Leader In Both AL And NL This Season
Former Phillies bust Jordan Romano, who struggled significantly in 2025 after an injury-plagued 2024, is making headlines for an unusual accomplishment in 2026. The veteran closer, once an All-Star with the Blue Jays, started the season with the Los Angeles Angels before being traded to the Colorado Rockies. Remarkably, Romano currently leads both the Angels and the Rockies in saves for the 2026 season, accumulating eight saves in total. This quirky statistic highlights a surprising turnaround for Romano, who is showing signs of rejuvenation with a 1.35 ERA in seven appearances for the Rockies. His journey underscores the unpredictable nature of reliever performance in MLB.
The Philadelphia Phillies took a calculated gamble last offseason when they signed veteran closer Jordan Romano, hoping the former Toronto Blue Jays All-Star could return to his dominant form after an injury-plagued 2024 campaign. Instead, the move quickly became one of the club's biggest disappointments as Romano struggled to regain his command and consistency.
By the end of the season, Philadelphia had moved on, and Romano's future looked uncertain after one of the worst years of his career. But now, less than a season later, the veteran reliever is generating attention for an unusual accomplishment that spans both leagues.
Romano's latest chapter took another unexpected turn after he joined the Los Angeles Angels to start this season before being traded to the Colorado Rockies.
"Jordan Romano leads the Angels in saves in 2026,” The Athletic’s Sam Blum noted in a post on X with nearly 7,500 likes. “Jordan Romano leads the Rockies in saves in 2026 (tied with two others). Jordan Romano has total 8 saves."
The quirky statistic reflects just how unusual Romano's season has been. While it is notable that he’s able to hold a saves lead for two different teams with just eight on the season, he has enjoyed a bit of a rejuvenation this season.
He has maintained a 1.35 ERA in seven appearances so far for the Rockies, who play in a notoriously hitter-friendly ballpark.
When the Angels signed Romano before the 2026 season, they were betting that the two-time All-Star could rediscover the form that once made him one of baseball's premier closers.
"Romano would certainly fit the label of a possible reclamation project after having an ugly 2025 season with the Phillies, as he posted an 8.23 ERA in 49 games a year after he was limited due to injury with the Blue Jays,” Christian Arnold wrote for the New York Post at the time. “The right-hander had 47 strikeouts and allowed 10 home runs in 42⅔ innings in his lone season with the Phillies. During his 2024 season in Toronto, Romano had a 6.59 ERA in 13⅔ innings as he dealt with right elbow inflammation for most of the year."
Those difficult back-to-back seasons stood in sharp contrast to Romano's peak with Toronto. From 2021 through 2023, he established himself as one of the game's elite late-inning relievers, posting a 2.37 ERA with 95 saves over that three-year stretch while earning American League All-Star selections in both 2022 and 2023.
While Romano hasn’t completely returned to that dominant level, his unusual distinction of leading two different clubs in saves during the same season demonstrates that he has once again become a trusted late-inning option. For the Phillies, it also serves as another reminder that reliever performance can fluctuate dramatically from one season to the next.