MANCHESTER, N.H. — It’s hard to imagine Mikey Romero’s first full year of professional baseball could have gone any worse.

Months after being selected No. 24 overall by the Red Sox in the 2022 MLB Draft, Romero suffered an offseason back injury that lingered into spring training and stubbornly refused to heal. What started a stress reaction eventually snowballed into a full blown stress fracture, ultimately derailing what should have been the biggest year of his baseball journey so far.

Yet ask Romero, and he’ll tell you last year was among the most important of his life.

“Last year is a year I’d never want to give up, because it’s changed my life for the better and made me into the man I’ll be for the rest of my life,” Romero said. “I got engaged this past offseason, I’m getting married in November, a lot of good things have come out of something that from the outside looking in wasn’t so good.”

Though the early career adversity set him back relative to his peers, Romero has put the injury behind him and is finally beginning to show off the immense talent that made him a first-round pick. Now he’s nearing the end of a successful bounce-back season, one that was capped off by his recent promotion to Double-A Portland.

A 20-year-old shortstop, Romero earned his call-up after batting .271 with 10 home runs, 40 RBI and an .817 OPS in 59 games at High-A Greenville. Since then he’s shown no signs of slowing down, crushing three home runs in his first five games with the Portland Sea Dogs entering this week’s series against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

“Finishing strong, finishing healthy, going into the offseason ready to train and get big, because no one in the big leagues is small,” Romero said when asked what his goals are for the last two weeks. “Just get big and come back next year, and whether I’m knocking on the door at Triple-A or I’m here next year starting, just have a good offseason and finish this year strong.”

Romero doesn’t take his health for granted. Last year’s back injury limited him to just 34 unproductive games in which he batted .214 with no home runs in 34 games. He spent considerable time rehabbing in Fort Myers, and one silver lining of his experience came when he got a chance to work with Trevor Story, who was also working his way back from elbow surgery the prior offseason.

“The way he carries himself, you hear the term ‘carry yourself like a pro,’ and I’d look at him and be like ‘alright, this is how I should carry myself,’” Romero said. “The conversations and getting to work with him is something I’ll cherish for the rest of my career.”

Romero’s rehab and recovery process stretched into this past spring training, but eventually he was able to get back on the field in Greenville and work his way back into a normal routine. Eventually, after getting enough at bats under his belt, something clicked, and for about two weeks after the All-Star break Romero went on an epic heater in which he batted .446 with eight home runs in a 13 game span.

“I think it was getting comfortable again and seeing pitches, getting at bats and getting back to game speed and facing live competition,” he said.

Unfortunately, Romero’s hot streak crashed to a halt when he experienced another setback. This time it was a concussion, which he suffered when he was hit in the head by a ground ball in a freak mishap on the field.

Perhaps appropriately, the injury occurred on the same field he suffered his stress fracture a year prior.

“Winston-Salem hates me,” Romero joked. “I got a ground ball and it was like a chopper, it wasn’t hit crazy hard, but my head was turned and our third baseman was coming across and we both missed it and it drilled me right in the face.”

Thankfully the injury wasn’t serious and Romero was activated about a week later. He got the call to Portland a short time afterwards on Aug. 26, and since then he’s quickly impressed his new manager with his mature approach to the game and prodigious tools.

“The power for sure, some of the balls he’s hit for home runs you could categorize them as big boy pop,” said Sea Dogs manager Chad Epperson. “His posture isn’t real big but he’s strong and he’s able to create some bat speed, so that’s something that’s definitely stood out.”

If it weren’t for his injuries, it’s possible Romero could be viewed in a similar light as fellow top draft picks like his draft classmate Roman Anthony and like Marcelo Mayer, Boston’s first-round pick from the year prior and a close friend from travel ball in Southern California. Romero said he’s happy for his fellow prospects and impressed by everything they’ve accomplished, but also believes that things are playing out as intended and that if he keeps working hard, he’ll reach his destination.

“You want to be out on the field and you want to make your way up to the big leagues but sometimes the plan is just different and in the long run I think last year is the best thing that could have happened for me,” Romero said. “I have a good routine now, I stick to that routine and it’s a routine I’ll have for the rest of my playing career.”