Stefen Daniel Romero (born October 17, 1988) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB) for the

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

and

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...

Career

Amateur

Romero attended Sunnyside High School in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. Playing for the school's baseball team, he earned an all-southern Arizona honorable mention from the ''

Tucson Citizen The ''Tucson Citizen'' was a daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as the ''Arizona Citizen''. When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the dail ...

'' following his senior season. He also played for the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

team. Romero enrolled at

Pima Community College Pima Community College (PCC) is a Public university, public community college in Pima County, Arizona. It serves the Tucson, Arizona, Tucson metropolitan area with a community college district consisting of five campuses, four education centers, ...

. After playing

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

at Pima for two years, he transferred to

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Corvallis, Oregon, United States. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate degree programs and a variety of graduate and doctor ...

, where he played for the

Oregon State Beavers baseball The Oregon State Beavers baseball team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I college baseball. The team participates as an Independent, since the Pac-12 Conference's dissolution in 2024. They are currently coached by Mitch Canham a ...

team. In 2009, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park (ballpark) ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. He had a .326

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in 2010, and was named to the All-

Pac-10 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

First Team.

Seattle Mariners

The

drafted Romero in the 12th round, with the 372nd overall selection, of the

2010 Major League Baseball Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team picking first. ;Key ...

. He made his professional debut in 2011 with the Single–A

Clinton LumberKings The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest Leag ...

, logging a .280/.342/.462 slash line with 16 home runs and 65 RBI. In 2012, Romero was the Mariners Minor League Player of the Year after he hit .352/.391/.599 with 23

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 101

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

with the

Jackson Generals The Jackson Generals were a professional baseball team located in Jackson, Tennessee. From 1998 to 2020, they were a part of Minor League Baseball's Southern League (SL) as the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs (1998–2006), Seattle Mari ...

of the Double–A Southern League. He was assigned to the

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

of the Triple–A

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

in 2013, but started the season on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

with an

oblique Oblique may refer to: * an alternative name for the character usually called a slash (punctuation) ( / ) *Oblique angle, in geometry * Oblique triangle, in geometry * Oblique lattice, in geometry * Oblique leaf base, a characteristic shape of the ...

injury. On November 20, 2013, the Mariners added Romero to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. In 2014, Romero made the Mariners'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster, and had his major league debut on April 1. He struggled, batting .192 in 73 games. He began the 2015 season in Tacoma, playing in 116 games for the team, and also went 4-for-21 in 24 plate appearances for the Mariners. He began the 2016 season in Tacoma, and went 4-for-17 in 19 plate appearances for the Mariners that year. On November 19, 2016, the Mariners released Romero to allow him to pursue an opportunity to play in Japan.

Orix Buffaloes

He signed with the

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

on November 24, 2016. In 2017, Romero slashed .274/.330/.508 with 26 home runs and 66 RBI. He signed a three-year contract extension with the Buffaloes on August 4, 2017, earning $2.5 million per season. In 2018, Romero batted .237/.313/.451 with 25 home runs and 63 RBI. In 2019, Romero played in 81 games for Orix, batting .305/.363/.539 with 18 home runs and 63 RBI. On December 2, 2019, he became a free agent.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On January 27, 2020, Romero signed with the

Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping c ...

(NPB). On February 15, 2020, he held press conference. On the year, Romero slashed .272/.354/.539 with 24 home runs and 63 RBI for Rakuten. On December 2, he became a free agent.

Orix Buffaloes (second stint)

On January 8, 2021, Romero signed a one-year contract to return to the

of NPB. Due to the influence of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, he was in a situation where his family could not come to Japan and lived away from his family. The Buffaloes acknowledged his desire to prioritize his family and he decided to leave the team on August 3.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On February 12, 2022, Romero signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

. After beginning the season with the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

he was added to the major league roster on June 22. Romero was designated for assignment on June 25, without appearing in a game. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City on June 27. Romero played in 30 games for Oklahoma City, hitting .265/.353/.431 with three home runs and 22 RBI before he was placed on the injured list on July 9 and stayed there the rest of the season. He elected free agency following the season on November 10.

Diablos Rojos del México

On March 6, 2023, Romero signed with the

Diablos Rojos del México The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (English: Mexico Red Devils) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Mexico City, Mexico. The team was founded in 1940 by Salvador Lutteroth and Ernesto Carmona. The Diablos Rojos play their ho ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. In 36 games for México, he slashed .322/.403/.568 with eight home runs and 28 RBI. Romero was placed on the reserve list on March 23, 2024, and did not appear in a game for the team. The Diablos would go on to win the

Serie del Rey The Serie del Rey () is the annual championship series of the Mexican Baseball League (LMB), held since . The champions from the league's two divisions, the North and South Zones, compete in a best-of-seven series, with the winner being awarded ...

. Romero retired from professional baseball on November 19.

Personal life

Stefen's younger brother, Santiago, was a teammate on their high school baseball team.

References

External links

Oregon State Beavers bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Romero, Stefen 1988 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan American baseball players of Mexican descent Baseball players from Tucson, Arizona Bourne Braves players Clinton LumberKings players Diablos Rojos del México players High Desert Mavericks players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Major League Baseball outfielders Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders Oregon State Beavers baseball players Orix Buffaloes players Peoria Javelinas players Pima Aztecs baseball players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles players 21st-century American sportsmen Oklahoma City Dodgers players