Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P Arencibia hands the ball to pitcher Ricky Romero during second inning MLB action against the Oakland Athletics in Toronto on Wednesday, July 25, 2012.Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press
As of right now, Ricky Romero remains a member in good standing in the Toronto Blue Jays pitching rotation.
How long that will last is anybody's guess.
The day following the worst outing of the 27-year-old's Major League career, Toronto manager John Farrell was peppered with questions about how the American League club plans to get him back in stride.
Right now there are no answers - at least any that Farrell is willing to share with members of the media.
"There's nothing conclusive," Farrell said Thursday morning before the Blue Jays played the Oakland Athletics in an afternoon tilt at Rogers Centre. "And I know you're trying best your best to find out what the plan is. And that hasn't been developed yet."
Romero, the team's top of the rotation starter, was bombed for eight earned runs over 1.1-innings on Wednesday night, his shortest start of his four-year Major League career.
Oakland would go on to win 16-0, the most lopsided shutout loss in Blue Jays franchise history.
The A's, who have outscored Toronto 23-2 in the first two games, will be seeking a series sweep in Thursday's game.
Romero is now 8-6 on the season with a 5.22 earned run average.
The left-hander has been brutal of late, losing six in a row during which his ERA has ballooned to 10.57.
Farrell said he and general manager Alex Anthopoulos remained at Rogers Centre into the early-morning hours following Wednesday's game discussing a number of matters, including the struggles of Romero.
Farrell was asked if the team has given any thought to moving Romero out of the rotation for the time being.
"We haven't had those in-depth conversations yet about Ricky," Farrell said. "But that's not to allude that we're going to take him out of the rotation."
Farrell was also asked if the plan right now is to stick with Romero into his next scheduled start, which is Monday in Seattle against the Mariners.
"As of right now, yes," Farrell said.