Left-hander Drew Rom was sitting on the balcony of his hotel room last night in Jacksonville at around 10:45 p.m., gazing at the river and relaxing, when Triple-A Norfolk manager Buck Britton called with news that he’d need to pack his bags and board a flight to Baltimore in the morning.
The Orioles decided to option Keegan Akin and recall Rom, whose first appearance out of the bullpen will be his major league debut.
“For me, it’s just been a whirlwind of a day and a half, I guess, but I’m trying to take it all in stride at this point and try to keep doing what I’ve been doing down in Norfolk and just try to bring it up here,” Rom said this afternoon at his locker inside the clubhouse at Camden Yards.
“It’s kind of surreal. My favorite movie was ‘The Rookie’ growing up, with Dennis Quaid, so that’s kind of what I felt like coming in, honestly, was taking everything in. A little bit of shell shock. Everything today’s just been eyes wide-open, trying to bask in everything and just take everything one step at a time, one minute at a time.”
Rom posted a 2.87 ERA and 1.24 WHIP in six games. He was supposed to start tonight for the Tides.