HOUSTON — A few years after being an All-Star closer, Jordan Romano hadn’t set his sights on reclaiming the ninth inning.

One step at a time.

“I just wanted to get back to pitching well, honestly,” the Angels’ right-hander said Saturday. “Just being effective out there and helping the team win games. If it happens to be in the ninth, that’s great. If it’s the eighth, whatever. I just want to be effective and pitch.”

Romano, 32, did get the first shot at the ninth inning, because Kirby Yates is on the injured list and Romano had a strong spring. Romano gave up one earned run in six innings this spring, and he’s now retired six of the seven hitters he’s faced in two scoreless ninth innings. The Astros whiffed on four of their five swings at his slider Friday.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good,” Romano said. “I just felt this spring I was attacking the zone a little bit better than I did last year. I like the slider a lot better. I like how the heater is playing. Obviously it’s probably down a tick or two, but I feel like it’s playing up a little bit, the way I’m throwing it. I’ve been pleased. Just trying to keep it going.”

An All-Star with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2022 and 2023, Romano struggled in 2024 and ultimately had his season ended by elbow surgery. Last year with the Philadelphia Phillies, he had more injury troubles and posted an 8.23 ERA.

He’s finally healthy again.

“It’s amazing,” he said with a smile. “It really is. It makes the mood a lot better. You wake up feeling pretty good. It does feel great.”

His fastball isn’t quite back, though. He threw 97-98 mph during his prime with the Blue Jays. Now he’s throwing 95 mph. He said he believes he can be effective with this fastball, and he’s also expecting to regain some velocity.

Romano has also added a splitter, which he used a couple times in spring training but didn’t use in either of his first two regular-season games.

“I just wanted a little bit different look, you know what I mean?” Romano said. “I’ve been throwing just fastball-slider for a lot of years now. So I just wanted a little bit different look for righties and lefties, right? Just kind of keep that in the back pocket, have it in the back of their minds, that maybe we could drop something in there.”

STAY POSITIVE

Catcher Logan O’Hoppe is notoriously hard on himself when things go wrong, which is why Friday’s nightmare game raised the question of how manager Kurt Suzuki can help O’Hoppe keep his head in the right place.

O’Hoppe had a passed ball, two throwing errors and two strikeouts.

So Suzuki, a former catcher, tried to loosen him up by telling him a story.

“I remember one of the earlier years of my career, probably my second or third year in, Opening Day I threw two balls into center field,” Suzuki said. “The first one I think the center fielder could have caught it in the air. And I believe that was one of the years I was pretty good defensively. It just happens.”

Suzuki said he also had to learn how to handle failure better.

“I think I can relate to him in a lot of ways,” Suzuki said. “The last couple years in the front office, I explained to him that (putting pressure on yourself to do well) is a good thing, but we have to learn how to control it. You’ve got to control it and and kind of let out that frustration or anger in the right way, not take it so deep.

“Understanding that this game is a hard game and mistakes are part of the game, it’s how we recover for them that makes us who we are. So I think Logan’s been doing a great job. I think his attitude’s been on point when mistakes do happen. He’s been fun to watch.”

NOTES

Suzuki used the exact same lineup Saturday for the third consecutive game, after the Angels won the first two. “I’m a big believer in continuity,” Suzuki said, adding that he does plan to get his bench players involved too. …

Mike Trout was in center field for the third straight day. Suzuki said he’s not going in with expectations of how much Trout can or can’t play center. “Mike tells me he feels good, so I’m going to go with him,” Suzuki said. “Obviously, there’s going to be days I’m going to give him off. I’m not going to run him into the ground, but I want him to help me make those decisions.”

UP NEXT

Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 3-11, 6.81 ERA in 2025) at Astros (RHP Tatsuya Imai, 10-5, 2.09 ERA in Japan in 2025), 11:10 a.m. PT Sunday, FanDuel Sports Network, 830 AM