This rookie Royals pitcher is about to face Twins’ lineup for third consecutive start
Being the new kid on the block in the big leagues comes with some perks, particularly when opponents haven’t had a great deal of experience against you.
It always wears off eventually, but usually not as quickly as it will for rookie Royals pitcher Brady Singer Saturday.
Singer, 24, hadn’t pitched above Double-A in the minors before this season. But he’s about to make his sixth start in the majors, and it will also be his third consecutive start against the division-rival Minnesota Twins.
“Obviously, I get to watch my past two starts and get to figure out some things that I need to change and some things I can keep the same,” Singer said. “It’s actually kind of good that I get to look back and watch myself throw against them.”
In his most recent start, Singer allowed three runs on four hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings. He gave up a fifth-inning home run to left-handed hitting Max Kepler. He took the loss in Minneapolis.
In his first start against the Twins, Singer earned his first major-league win as the Royals completed a series sweep at Kauffman Stadium on Aug. 9.
Singer downplayed the idea that he’d have to be overly careful about mixing up his pitch selection or risk falling into patterns against certain hitters.
“I think that’s just the art of pitching and the battle between the pitcher and the hitter,” Singer said. “But I’m not going to overthink it. I’m not going to change everything relatively. I’m going to keep it kind of simple, kind of pitch to my strengths and keep going.”
Last season, the Twins set an MLB record for home runs. This year they haven’t been as prolific, but they still feature a lineup anchored by one of the most productive hitters in the American League, in designated hitter Nelson Cruz.
Cruz was ranked among the top five in the AL in batting average (.333), on-base percentage (.415) and OPS (1.082) going into Friday’s games.
The Twins entered Friday’s series opener having won seven of their last 10 games, including three of four against the Royals in Minnesota last weekend.
“I think it’s smart to evaluate where you’ve been and if there have been any patterns, and then to try to avoid those patterns, obviously, while still balancing how to stick with your strengths,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said of the challenge awaiting Singer Saturday. “So it’s going to come down to pitch execution.”
Matheny also stressed that Singer should stick with his strengths.
Facing division rivals as often as teams do in baseball naturally breeds a bit of familiarity between pitchers and hitters. But that’s been amplified by this season’s truncated schedule, with all of KC’s opponents coming from either the AL Central or NL Central.
Royals right-hander Jakob Junis spoke to the typical challenge of facing a lineup in back-to-back starts earlier this season. Now on the injured list with back spasms, Junis characterized that second start against the same team as “a lot more cat and mouse.”
For him, that might mean going to his fastball up or inside instead of his go-to pitch in certain counts — the idea being that he tries to keep the opponent off-balance after having seen him so recently.
“I don’t have the secret answer to that,” Junis said of facing a team in back-to-back starts. “That’s something that’s tough to do. In years past, you’re going to have to do it once or twice a season. But I’ve never seen it, personally, where it’s three times in a row.
“I guess for me personally, going the second time, it’s going to be kind of going in with a positive attitude knowing that maybe I didn’t have my best stuff and I pitched okay last time. Hopefully, I’ll have my better sharp stuff that I didn’t show them that they didn’t necessarily see the first time.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2020 at 4:52 PM.
