Romine back in swing after concussion

TRENTON -- When Austin Romine hears his name announced Sunday at the Futures Game in Phoenix, he might greet it with a mix of rejoice and relief. The moment was nearly foiled by a home-plate collision six weeks ago.

But Romine -- a catcher at Double-A Trenton and the Yankees' lone representative at the Futures minor-league All-Star Game -- has shaken off the effects of a mild concussion and the rust of missing 19 games as a result of it. Back in the lineup, Romine said he's ready to rekindle his early-season progress.

"It was definitely going the way I wanted it to go," Romine said of his season.

The 22-year-old catcher also harbors no reservations about blocking the plate as he did June 2, when Altoona's Travis Scott collided with Romine as he took a throw from rightfield. A month later, Romine has not considered changing his approach in those situations.

"Not at all," he said. "I missed 22 days when I got plowed over at home -- you'd think I'd be the guy to say, 'Let's get rid of that.' But it's the game."

Romine, a sturdy, 6-foot, 220-pound former high school linebacker from Lake Forest, Calif., says he takes pride in the grunt and grime of his position. But since the season-ending injury suffered by Giants catcher Buster Posey in May, home-plate collisions have been a serious topic.

Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman said he and minor-league catching instructor Julio Mosquera addressed Romine about his incident and reemphasized the Yankees' catching philosophy: Don't block the plate completely.

"You've got to show runners a little bit of the plate," said Mosquera, who played nine seasons with the Blue Jays' and Brewers' organizations. "That way, they'll think about sliding. A lot of catchers cover the whole plate. That's a free shot for any runner."

Newman doesn't want to see any more shots at Romine, a second-round pick (94th overall) by the Yankees in the 2007 amateur draft. His improvements offensively and managing the game behind the plate this year have not gone unnoticed.

"The fact that he's in Double-A doesn't mean he can't come right up to the big leagues," Newman said. He added that Romine and catcher Jesus Montero, currently at Triple-A Scranton, are essentially equal as prospects. "In our eyes, they're 1 and 1A."

Prior to this year's injury, Romine was batting .298 with four home runs and 31 RBIs as the No. 3 hitter for the Thunder. It earned him a spot in the Futures Game for a second time.

"He was playing great baseball," Thunder manager Tony Franklin said. "He'd been making great strides."

That all was halted by the eighth-inning collision with Scott -- a hit that neither Romine nor Franklin initially thought was too damaging. Romine stayed in the game and said he felt fine later that night. The next morning, though, he awoke dizzy. "I had the fog," Romine said.

He was diagnosed with a mild concussion and sat out a week feeling lightheaded and groggy. One week spilled into two.

Romine said he knew about Twins first baseman Justin Morneau and Mets outfielder Jason Bay, both of whom suffered concussions and missed about half their seasons.

"I got a little worried -- how long is this going to go?" Romine said. "There's not much you can do for it. You can't rehab your brain."

Sixteen days after the hit, Romine said he just woke up feeling well. Like the flip of a switch, he said, the concussion symptoms dissolved and he was ready to play again.

He returned June 24 and he goes into Sunday's game hitting .293 with four homers and 36 RBIs. His head is clear. His path to the major leagues is also clearing.

"I'm not going to rush it," Romine said. "I'm going to continue what I was trying to do before I got hit and that is just hit good pitches."