KC Royals send Brady Singer down to minors. Here’s the club’s rationale for doing so
In the wake of starting shortstop Adalberto Mondesi’s injury, the Kansas City Royals made several roster moves on Thursday before their series finale in Chicago against the White Sox, including optioning former first-round draft pick Brady Singer to the minors.
The Royals also recalled outfielder Kyle Isbel and infielder Emmanuel Rivera from Triple-A Omaha. Isbel had joined the Royals in Chicago as part of the taxi squad while they awaited the diagnosis on Mondesi’s injury. Rivera arrived in Chicago on Thursday morning.
Isbel started Thursday’s game in right field.
Singer, 25, had been moved to the bullpen for the first time in his career at the start of the season. He made three relief appearances this season and pitched a total of 5 2/3 innings, including one three-inning outing during the club’s first homestand.
Singer had made a change to the grip on his sinking fastball, which he’d felt had given him better command and movement in recent weeks. His latest appearance came Tuesday, when he pitched two scoreless innings to complete a series-opening shutout against the White Sox.
“He’s been throwing the ball really, really well,” Royals president of baseball operations Dayton Moore said. “I think the shortened spring training probably didn’t do him any good. He didn’t get enough reps. We made a decision to go with some other people in the rotation, and to keep him in the bullpen simply doesn’t make sense. He’s too talented, too much a part of our future.
“He’s going to get stretched out. So that’s what we’re going to do. And as you know, the rosters are reducing here in a week or three-four days, next few days, so with rosters being reduced, you’d rather just be a little more proactive. He’s got a chance to pitch on Saturday in the rotation there in Omaha and get stretched out.”
Last season, Singer made the second-most starts (27) of any pitcher on the club. He went 5-10 with a 4.91 ERA, 131 strikeouts, 53 walks, a 1.55 WHIP and a .281 opponent’s batting average in 128 1/3 innings.
This year, coming out of spring training, the Royals chose to use Singer’s draft classmates Daniel Lynch and Kris Bubic — both left-handers — in the starting rotation alongside veterans Zack Greinke, Brad Keller and hard-throwing, high-upside right-hander Carlos Hernandez.
The Royals have maintained that they view Singer’s future as a starting pitcher. Now, he’ll go to Triple-A Omaha where he will get stretched out again and pitch regularly in the Storm Chasers’ rotation.
“We started this season not really knowing how this whole thing was going to work out, not having pitchers fully stretched out,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “You never know how April is going to work, wondering if we were going to be able to get guys the work that they need.
“It just hasn’t turned into the repetitions that (Singer) needs. He needs to go pitch. So I know it’s not ideal. He wants to be a part of this team. We want him a part of this team, but the best thing for Brady right now is to pitch, to get the repetitions.”
The Royals’ first pick (18th overall) in the 2018 MLB Draft out of the University of Florida, Singer moved quickly through the minors. He split time at High-A Wilmington and Double-A Northwest Arkansas in 2019, his first professional season. Then, after being invited to big-league spring training in 2020, he made the club coming out of Spring Training 2.0 when baseball resumed following the coronavirus outbreak.
He became the first of the Royals’ 2018 draft class, which included Bubic, Lynch, Jackson Kowar and Jonathan Heasley, to debut in the majors when he made his first start in 2020.
