Brady Singer Is Reaching a High Note
It seems that ages ago, the Kansas City Royals attempted to bring RHP Brady Singer out of the bullpen to begin the 2022 season. It seems that quite a while ago, the club sent him down to Triple-A Omaha to iron out some of the kinks in his game.
In reality, Singer has only made two starts at the big-league level since going through his stint with the Storm Chasers. The 25-year-old has just been so good that he's quickly putting that temporary demotion in the distant past. That run of success continued in start No. 2 as a new-and-improved pitcher — a Sunday outing at Kauffman Stadium against the visiting Minnesota Twins.
In seven innings of work, Singer allowed just four hits to Twins batters. He did issue three walks, but he worked around them while keeping his scoreless performance intact. He recorded just three strikeouts on the afternoon, pitching to contact and finding tremendous success instead.
Of Singer's 95 pitches thrown, he dominated his splits with his trademark slider-sinker duo. Those pitches accounted for 78 offerings and induced a combined seven whiffs by Minnesota. They will always be his bread and butter pitches, but a new friend made an appearance as well.
Singer's changeup didn't fade away one bit. For the second start in a row, he threw 16 of them and even got a whiff on the pitch. The chart below shows that he did get away with leaving some in precarious positions and he had quite the variance in overall location, but the simple fact that he's throwing it makes a massive difference.
Throwing the pitch consistently proved to be a troublesome task for quite a while, but Singer is finally doing it — and doing it frequently:
Singer's slider had a ton of glove side action, dropping low and away from right-handed batters and coming low and in against lefties. He pounded the strike zone with his sinker, coming in on righties often. Singer didn't have his best stuff, as he also left multiple pitches right over the heart of the plate. The addition of the aforementioned changeup makes it to where he can live without being at the top of his game elsewhere, though.
Having another pitch to go to will be a tremendous boon for Singer. The changeup not only keep hitters honest, but it gives him the ability to add deception to his profile and better complement the rest of his pitch mix. The early returns are promising, as he's on a 14-inning scoreless streak in his two starts since being promoted. Singer's ERA sits at a spotless 1.83 on the year and while his FIP is much higher (2.69), it's a far cry from the figures he's posted in the past.
It's still extremely early, but this version of Singer is one the Royals can count on to be a pillar of their starting rotation for years to come. The slider-fastball combo is solid as-is, and he should only get a better and better feel for the changeup over time. Repetitions and positive experiences will play critical roles in his continued development, and Sunday featured both. Singer sang a splendid song on Sunday and despite Kansas City's loss, his star was shining bright.
Jordan Foote is the editor-in-chief of Inside the Royals, as well as the deputy editor of Arrowhead Report and a producer for Kansas City Sports Network. Jordan is a Baker University alumnus, earning his degree in Mass Media with a minor in Sports Administration. Follow him on Twitter @footenoted.