Alex

Romero

The 22-year-old Romero should be in Triple-A after hitting .301/.354/.458 for New Britain last season. He’s currently batting .297/.379/.505 with eight steals in nine attempts.

Romero, who turned 21 last month, hit .292/.387/.405 in 105 games for Single-A Fort Myers this year. He’s a quality prospect even though he doesn’t have the power one likes to see from a corner outfielder.

Believing he was too far away from the majors, no team opted to grab Romero in the Rule 5 draft. The 21-year-old is batting .325 with 5 HR, 30 RBI and 21/26 K/BB in 169 AB for Aragua.

The Twins considered calling up Romero after he hit .301/.354/.458 in 509 AB for Double-A New Britain last season, but they decided against it. The 22-year-old will move up to Double-A next season and could be a candidate to replace Shannon Stewart in 2007.

The switch-hitting Romero, who turned 20 last month, hit .296 with 4 HR, 40 RBI, 43/43 K/BB and 11 SB in 423 AB for Single-A Quad City last season. He’s a few years away, but he has the talent to develop into a regular outfielder for the Twins.

Romero batted .310/.354/.421 at Triple-A Tucson last season. He didn’t get a September callup even though he was on the 40-man roster after being claimed off waivers from the Twins in January. The Diamondbacks may bump him soon, as they have plenty of outfield depth without him.

Romero takes over for Eric Byrnes, who was placed on the disabled list Friday in a corresponding move. He’ll get a decent crack at playing time and might actually do a little something with the opportunity. In 279 Triple-A at-bats, he was batting .348 with two home runs and 47 RBI.

The Diamondbacks trailed 6-3 after six innings, but battled back to a tie and sent the game to extra innings, where they eventually gained a decisive victory thanks to a five-run outburst in the 12th. Romero, who doubled, drove in three runs and stole a base in the game, watched his average shoot from .255 to .290.

Upton probably had an allergic reaction, and shouldn’t miss more than one game. Alex Romero drew the start in right field against the Dodgers.

Romero has hit .229/.222/.286 in 35 at-bats for Arizona this season. The Diamondbacks will have him replace Jeff Salazar, but he’s not going to do much more than pinch-hit with Conor Jackson and Chris Burke seeing increased outfield time.