Jordan Romano of the Blue Jays will play for Italy, not Canada

The only Canadian player of the Toronto Blue Jays chooses to play for Italy rather than Canada on the international stage.

Blue Jays Closer and Markham, Ontario, fellow countryman Jordan Romano will once again represent the nation of his family rather than the one he was born in for the upcoming 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Romano was in the Italian parking lot at WBC 2017 and at the time it was an international team that wanted him more than the other.

“I wanted to play for Canada in 2017, but they didn’t have a seat for me and I was pretty short at the time (I dated Tommy John)” Romano said via Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae. “I ordered Italy and had a great experience. They gave me a chance and I want to be faithful to them “,

Now that Romano is an established senior player and closest to the World Series winning Blue Jays, he should have earned enough ground from both countries, but the 28-year-old has decided to reward the country that first gave him a taste of international baseball. .

It certainly helps to give a positive vision of that 2017 championship.

“It was a great experience”, Romano He said In 2019. “My father was born in Italy, so I still have a family there. Just to be a part of something like that. The previous season I was on the low end, there weren’t many crazy fans and the great atmosphere and then I moved to Mexico and played in some of those games. Against many talents in the league. It was a great experience ”.

Romano was the only Italian bowler in that tournament to score a win, as he came prominently in the ninth game against the Mexican hosts and scored the first two goals he faced before knocking out the third.

Last season for Toronto, Romano scored 2.14 ERA in 63 innings and scored 12 hits in all nine innings. He is set to withstand many moments of pressure again in 2022.

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