Ricky Romero knows what it is like to scuffle, to be unable to locate a fastball for a strike, and to even question your continued existence in a game you have played practically all your life.
He has gone through it and come out the other side as one of the game's emerging pitching talents for the Toronto Blue Jays, convinced his rocky road played a huge role in his redemption.
"To this day I still thank God that I went through those times," the 27-year-old said Tuesday. "I think as a young player, you've got to fail before you come up here, just so you know what it's like to fail. And it happened 2 1/2 years for me where I was consistently failing, failing, failing, failing. And I think it made me mentally stronger.
"It's tough for a young kid to come up here and, all of a sudden, they get hit in the mouth a little bit and they don't know how to react."
Romero was speaking in the clubhouse at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, where the Blue Jays will set up camp for the next two months or so as spring training gets under way for the 2012 Major League Baseball season.
Toronto's pitchers and catchers will have their first official workout on Wednesday. The club will welcome the full complement of position players for the first full squad workout on Saturday.
Romero, the unquestioned ace of a still-developing staff, was speaking of the difficulties the Blue Jays young rotation experienced last year, consistently unable to pitch deep into games.
The Blue Jays finished 81-81, good enough for another fourth place finish in the American League East.
Romero was referring to the likes of Brett Cecil and Kyle Drabek, two pitchers who made the rotation out of training camp in 2011, but eventually found themselves relegated to the minors for lengthy periods.
Both are back in the hunt this spring, and Romero believes the struggles they've experienced in the past can only help their future chances for success.
"I think they're coming in with a different mind set, kind of like, 'I want to prove everyone wrong,' " Romero said. "It's exciting to see."
He should know. He went through it.
Toronto's first-round draft pick (sixth overall) in 2005, Romero spent most of the next four years kicking around the minor leagues. In 2008, he walked 75 batters in 164 innings pitched at Double-A and Triple-A.
Then, in 2009, it was like a light went on for Romero, who was one of the final players to make the 25-man big-league roster out of spring training. Essentially, he finally learned how to command his pitches.
"It's not like I woke up one day and I was all right, I decided to pitch even better," Romero said, trying to describe the change that came over him. "It's just stuff that happens."
Romero would go on to post a 13-9 record his first full season, and has since been on the upswing in all the major statistical pitching categories.
Last season, Romero went 15-11 with a sparkling 2.92 earned-run average. He averaged 7.03 innings per start, which ranked him sixth among AL pitchers. (James Shields of the Tampa Bay Ray was No. 1, averaging 7.56 innings.)
Apart from Romero, such stamina was not something the Blue Jays excelled at, as their pitchers ranked ninth overall at 5.95 innings per start.
Toronto manager John Farrell said the success of his team this season will rest heavily on his starters consistently pitching deeper into games. "We know that we've got to get a greater number of quality innings pitched by that three, four, five slot," he said.
Farrell said if the pitching can perform to expectations, he has no doubt the Jays will surprise many this season.
"I will tell you, in this room and in this organization, we feel like this is a year for us to contend," he said. "We have to have some things go our way. But we feel we're going to return an offence that was a … good offence that will improve because of some youth that has another year of experience under their belt. "