Drew Romo joined the White Sox this season with 54 major-league at-bats and zero home runs.
In 27 at-bats with the Sox entering Wednesady, he has four home runs.
And he’s as surprised as you are.
“It’s probably the last thing I expected,” Romo told the Sun-Times.
Yet, here he is, fourth on the team in homers entering the game Wednesday against the Royals, behind Munetaka Murakami (15), Colson Montgomery (10) and Miguel Vargas (nine). His solo shot in the fifth inning Tuesday put the Sox on the board and sparked a five-run rally.
Asked when he realized Romo had a power stroke, manager Will Venable replied, “When he started hitting homers.”
Touche.
The Sox claimed the switch-hitting catcher off waivers from the Mets on Jan. 8. In December 2025, Romo was waived by both the Orioles and Rockies, who drafted him in the first round (35th pick) in 2020.
“We saw Drew in spring training. That was the first time that I’d seen him,” Venable said. “Very professional in how he goes about his business. Obviously, he was able to put together really good at-bats from both sides of the plate in spring training.”
He never homered, though.
“But I always thought he was a strong, physical kid that gave himself a chance with good swing decisions,” Venable continued. “So it’s nice to see on the big-league level that he’s able to tap into that power.”
Romo slashed .300/.417./.500 in 20 spring-training at-bats but didn’t make the Opening Day roster. The Sox sent him to Triple-A and went with Edgar Quero and Reese McGuire at catcher. With Charlotte, Romo slashed .298/.385/.561 with four homers in 57 at-bats.
Meanwhile, Quero and McGuire struggled at the plate, and Kyle Teel’s recovery time from a hamstring injury suffered in the World Baseball Classic kept lengthening. On April 25, the Sox designated McGuire for assignment and called up Romo.
In his third game, three days later against the Angels, he homered twice, from both sides of the plate, becoming the first catcher in Sox history to do that.
“I’ve always been a contact-first hitter,” Romo said. “Power just kind of comes. And I’ve always been very aggressive with high chase, but like good bat-to-ball. So I’ll fight it off and get a base hit.
“But right now, the power numbers are up, and I don’t have any singles, which is crazy, because I’ve always been a singles hitter. But I’m just riding with it.”
And he’s doing it with more runway than he ever has in the majors, especially with Quero still struggling and Teel finally on a rehab assignment. Romo was back in the lineup Wednesday in his usual No. 9 spot. He had to think of the last time he was afforded such stability.
“A lot of consistent playing time and this much runway, probably when I first got called up to the big leagues in late 2024 [with the Rockies],” he said. “It’s awesome. It’s more fun getting to contribute a lot more to the big-league wins.”
It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Teel is ready to return. He’s the Sox’ best hitting catcher, and Quero entered Wednesday batting .121 in his previous 14 games. Perhaps Quero will be sent down to keep Romo’s bat available.
But Romo can’t shirk his catching duties, which include pregame meetings that might limit his time in the batting cage. He credits the coaching staff for giving him the time he needs.
“The coaches cultivate a really good environment,” Romo said. “[They] make a good schedule, they make a good routine for everybody, making sure we all have enough time to get our stuff done.”