Former Poinciana hurler earns 1st win in Gulf Coast League

By Ken Jackson
Sports Writer

Kissimmee’s Chris Roman is finally a professional baseball player, but the route taken to get there from being a kid with a dream wasn’t exactly the straightest of lines.

Roman, who signed with the Toronto Blue Jays as a free agent following Major League Baseball’s June draft, made his pro debut on July 13 for the team’s Gulf Coast League affiliate in Dunedin.

He picked up his first win as a pro July 27, pitching a third of an inning during a 9-7 win against the Pirates.

The journey was every bit as instrumental to the 22-year-old as the destination.

After playing for two local high schools (Gateway and Poinciana) and two college programs (Newberry and Nova Southeastern), Roman expected to hear his phone ring – with a major-league club on the other end – sometime during the third day of the June MLB Draft.

It was a quiet day.

“I was pretty surprised at that. My Nova coach (Gary Brown) is an area scout for the Astros and said teams had been asking about me,” he said. “Three of my teammates got drafted.

“I was watching it online. I sat for hours. Eventually my dad (Ray Roman, his former youth travel-ball coach) called and told me to shut it off and go get something to eat.”

That was on a Wednesday. Three days later, the Seattle Mariners called with a not-so-firm tryout offer. Then, Sunday, Brown called Roman.

“He told me to call the Blue Jays, who might have an offer,” he said. “On Monday, I went to Dunedin, signed and took a physical. It was kind of a whirlwind.”

Roman was 2-0 with a 6.10 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 31 innings at Nova last season. He developed into a full-time pitcher over three seasons at Division II Newberry (S.C.) College.

But, life chose to throw one more curveball at him. In bullpen sessions before the Gulf Coast League season started, he developed soreness in his right (throwing) shoulder and he couldn’t follow through.

He was diagnosed with a joint impingement, which shut him down for three weeks. The pain went away, and by mid-July he was eager to return.

He was probably a little too eager.

Against the Pirates on July 13, he struggled, failing to retire any of the four batters he faced in his debut.

“I was too excited,” he said. “I was stepping out of every pitch trying to throw it as hard as I could, instead of striding through them. My manager (Omar Malave) told me not to worry about it. I made the adjustment and it’s been better since.”

Roman’s logged four scoreless outings including the win against the Pirates. He pitched two hitless innings against the Yankees, his father’s boyhood favorite team.

“I didn’t get wrapped up in that, I was just focused on getting my first pro outs,” he said. “I’m starting to settle in now.”

He is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA over 8 2/3 innings in eight appearances with the Blue Jays. All of them have been scoreless since the debut.

He said that Blue Jays pitching coach John Wesley hasn’t tweaked the mechanics of his pitching delivery, instead offering advice on where to locate pitches.

“He wants me to pound the outside corner low and away consistently. After that I can move to working up and in on guys,” he said. “I won’t have to worry about guys making good contact with an aluminum bat.”

The GCL season will run through late August, when Roman plans to take a break and return to Nova to begin work on a MBA.

“I’ll be tired, but I’m sure I’ll be ready to get back into it after a while,” he said.

His dad said that the family is pleased with Roman’s progress both academically and athletically.

“We are more proud of the fact that he was able to get his bachelor’s degree in four years with honors and that he is going to grad school,” Ray Roman said. “Baseball was a hobby to keep him focused on something positive and something that eventually worked out for him. Not many baseball players get the opportunity to play college baseball, let alone make it to pro ball.”

Roman, who pitched his junior and senior years at Poinciana, has an Eagles teammate in pro ball.

Jimmy Moran is in the Arizona Rookie League with the Cincinnati Reds (4.22 ERA, 16 strikeouts in 10 2/3 innings).

The county’s other product in professional baseball is Gateway’s Joe Torres, who was the Anaheim Angels’ first-round pick (10th overall) in 2000.

The 28-year-old lefty is with the Tulsa Drillers, the Class AA Texas League affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, and has a 2.66 ERA in 39 appearances (50 strikeouts in 40 innings).