Could Mikey Romero be this years Kristian Campbell?

Staying healthy will be key to Mikey Romero getting back on track
Mikey Romero was the Sox 1st round pick in 2022

    Coming out of the same high school as Gerrit Cole, Cole Winn, and Garrett Mathews, Mikey Romero was destined for baseball greatness. That's why the Red Sox made Romero their 2022 first round pick, taking him with the 24 overall pick that year. Since then, Romero has been nothing less than disappointing. While hitting on Roman Anthony in the Compensatory round of that draft has made the sting a little less painful, it still hurts to see a first round pick flounder as Romero has. 

    Since being selected, Romero has only played in 131 professional games. He is yet to play 80 games in a season. A combination of various back injuries has hindered Romero's career so far, but he looked to be finally figuring it out at the end of last year, finishing in AA and staying relatively healthy after dealing with his back injuries early. 

    There's reasons to be optimistic for Romero to have a turnaround this season. In his final 27 games for High-A Greenville, Romeo hit .345 with 8 homeruns, earning him a late season call up to AA. While he had some struggles in AA, posting a .243 avg with a really poor 33% K-rate, he flashed some power that we didn't really expect for him. In 16 games, Romero hit 6 homeruns, brining his season total to 16. In his previous 187 plate appearances, he hit 1, way back in rookie ball. 

    Coming out of high school, Romero was regarded as a high contact, low power SS with smooth hands and a mature approach. He was praised for his high baseball IQ, especially for someone coming out of high school. In the time since, Romero has traded some of that contact for more power, much like Kristian Campbell. While not as successful, Romero is still only 21 and has yet to have a fully healthy season. Fully healthy, he's a good pick for a minor league breakout this year.

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