Young Blood: Carlos Romero’s Summer Vacation with the Miami Marlins

Carlos Romero was the youngest player in the Miami Marlins 2018 organization.

Throughout the 2018/2019 offseason, Marlin Maniac will devote one article each for every player who appeared in the Miami Marlins system for the 2018 season. Every. Single. Player. This is Part 223 of 286.

Carlos Miguel Romero is a 6’4″, 175 lb. infielder from Cumana, Venezuela, population 358,138, per the United Nations. The smallish-large city has produced six major leaguers to date, most recently pitcher Rafael Betancourt and catcher Jesus Sucre.

Romero was born on July 31st, 2001, and will not turn 18 until halfway through the 2019 campaign. After signing with the Miami Marlins on January 24th last year, his initial reporting location was to the DSL Marlins, in the rookie-level Dominican Summer League.

Romero played most of his time at shortstop, where he collected an .877 fielding percentage with 10 errors in 81 chances over 21 games. In 11 games at second base, he fielded nearly 100 points better, registering a .973 with one error in 37 chances. In eight games at the hot corner, he posted a mark of .900, with one error in 10 chances.

Romero’s size would seem to indicate a future at either first or third base. He’s still got some growing to do, and could develop into a power hitter. That wasn’t the case in his first professional look. He was 24-for-125, with five doubles as his only extra-base hits. He slashed a .192/.287/.232 line, with seven RBI and five stolen bases in eight tries. Romero also drew 17 walks while whiffing 37 times, just over 25 percent.

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Still 16, Romero made his debut on June 23rd, hitting a double and scoring a run in an 11-6 victory against the DSL Royals1. On August 9th, Romero started at second base and batted seventh, hitting a single and a double while collecting an RBI in a 9-4 loss to the DSL Braves. Eight days later, Romero played shortstop and batted second, rewarding the Marlins with three singles in five at bats in a 5-2 loss to the DSL Athletics.

Romero’s slash line, while not great, was at the very least not embarrassing. Despite his train-wreck performance at shortstop, he displayed solid range and a good glove at second base. Expect to see him start the 2019 season back with DSL for a second look, with a possible trip to the rookie-level Gulf Coast League if he picks his slash line up a bit. Long-range projection has his first probable major league season as 2025.

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