Kansas City Royals: Brady Singer is dominating pitcher team needs

The former 2018 first-round pick has dazzled this season for Double-A and could find his way into the Kansas City Royals rotation next season.

Brady Singer has lived up to the hype so far since being drafted with the 18th overall pick in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft. The former Florida Gator was considered to be one of the best college pitchers in the draft after being named SEC Pitcher of the Year. In his junior season, Singer finished with a record of 12-3 while tossing 113.0 innings to go along with 114 strikeouts compared to just 22 walks. He allowed opponents to bat 0.203 off him all to the tune of a 2.55 ERA.

He’s been everything that the Royals organization could have wanted when they drafted him. Singer skipped Single-A entirely and started his professional career in High-A Wilmington this season. In 10 starts there, he tossed 57.2 innings with 53 strikeouts and a 1.87 ERA. That was more than enough convincing needed to promote him to Double-A NW Arkansas.

Singer has made 15 starts for the Naturals this year and has experienced similar success.  He’ll likely have one more start in the regular season but he has been magnificent in his last 10 starts. In a stretch that spanned from early July, Singer has tossed 61.0 innings with 65 strikeouts to just 16 walks and a 2.66 ERA.

The fact that he’s been able to carry over that command from college to High-A to Double-A is a really good sign. Pitching prospects, as they start to face better competition, will often try to nibble around the plate and see their walks increase. He’s gone 7.0 innings in two of his last three starts and has repeated that feat five times in 2019.

There’s a reason he’s ranked as the team’s number two prospect and the 54th best prospect in the game, according to MLB Pipeline. Baseball America has a really good scouting report on him:

"The Royals were thrilled to get a near major league-ready pitcher that far into the draft. They see Singer as a starter with a durable body and competitive makeup. He flashes two plus pitches–a fastball and slider–delivered from a lower arm slot. That arm slot concerned some scouts, and they said they felt it limited his ability to consistently throw his changeup. While still a bit rusty during instructional league, Singer looked the part. His fastball sat 91-94 mph, which was close to his college velocity, with good movement down in the zone. – BA"

He’ll likely start at Triple-A next season and if he continues on the same trend, I really see no reason to not bring him up when he’s ready. The current rotation is a mess, so Singer will be one of the first (presumably with Jackson Kowar) pitching prospects to make their way onto the big league roster.