8 KC Royals chasing good marks before season ends

A starter and a reliever can improve their already good KC Royals seasons.

Back in April, as he was trying to become accustomed to the bullpen after spending his first two major league seasons in the rotation, Brady Singer suddenly found himself headed for Triple-A Omaha, ostensibly to stretch back out as a starter.

Interrupted only briefly by a spot start as Kansas City’s 27th man for a doubleheader with Chicago, Singer spent almost a month with the Storm Chasers before rejoining the Royals for good in mid-May.

Stretching him out and slotting him back into the rotation have worked out well. Singer is 7-4, 3.25 since returning and 8-4, 3.21 for the year. Those eight victories are one shy of the nine he collected over his first two seasons; winning two more games means he’ll finish 2022 with 10, a total not a single Royal has reached since Jason Vargas won 18 in 2017.

He also needs one strikeout to break the short sample size career best 131 he posted last year.

Closer Scott Barlow enters tonight’s contest with the Twins needing four saves to reach 25. If he does that, he’ll be the first KC reliever to save that many since Ian Kennedy hit that mark in 2019. His 21 this year are the most he’s posted in a single season.

All eyes will be on eight Royals trying to finish with good marks when the club opens its three game series with Minnesota tonight.