Kansas City Royals hoping for Brady Singer’s return to rotation sooner than later
The Kansas City Royals’ starting pitching rotation will likely look different by this weekend, though it’s still not clear what specific changes are coming. General manager J.J. Picollo may have given an indication of one of the changes on the horizon during a radio interview on Tuesday morning.
Picollo, during an appearance on KCSP 610 Sports Radio’s “Cody and Gold” show, alluded to the return of right-hander Brady Singer as a member of the major-league rotation.
“He’s in the process of (getting built up) to hopefully join our rotation here in the near future, and he’s the guy that I think can be ahead of the others,” Picollo said.
Picollo’s reference to ahead of the others was regarding his learning curve and experience in the majors.
Last season, Singer made 27 starts, second-most 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.
He began this season on the major-league roster, but in the bullpen after losing the competition for a rotation spot.
The Royals’ first pick (18th overall) in the 2018 MLB Draft out of the University of Florida, Singer moved quickly through the minors, advancing from High-A to Double-A in his first professional season (2019). He became the first member of the Royals’ 2018 draft class to debut in the majors during the pandemic-shortened season of 2020.
Coming into this season, Singer led all pitchers who debuted in 2020 in starts (39) and innings (192 2/3).
The Royals optioned Singer, 25, to the minors on April 28. He must spend a minimum of 15 days in the minors after being optioned unless serving as the 27th man for a doubleheader or replacing a player who has been placed on the injured list.
Singer remains several days shy of being eligible to return to the majors, and the Royals still have not named a starting pitcher for Wednesday’s game against the Texas Rangers.
So there’s still some uncertainty about which way the Royals will turn in the immediate future.
The Royals moved left-hander Kris Bubic to the bullpen following his most recent start last week, though he still hasn’t made a relief appearance.
That leaves them with four members of their starting rotation instead of five.
