Kansas City Royals: Three reasonable expectations for 2020 season
By Cody Rickman
2) Brady Singer will be in contention for 2020 AL Rookie of the Year award
Brady Singer has been saying and doing all of the right things to make the Opening Day starting rotation for the 2020 Royals and it was announced that he would be making his MLB debut on Saturday.
Mike Matheny just announced that Brady Singer will start Saturday.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 22, 2020
The Royals pitching staff has done their part in opening the door for Singer, with Brad Keller and Jakob Junis delayed in their season preparations due to coronavirus positive tests. Lackluster performances by Jorge Lopez, Glenn Sparkman, and Braden Shipley have opened the door wider to starting Singer’s service time clock.
Singer has looked sharp and consistent in his outings both in the 2020 Spring Training and 2020 Summer Camp. His mechanics are refined and ready for MLB exposure. The mechanics of hip balance and arm motion prior to release are balanced and simplified to repeat accuracy. Singer is set-up to sustain long-term success and health at the MLB level.
The development of Singer’s third pitch, his change-up, along with his ability to keep batters off-guard with his rapid-fire pace and pitch command will bode well for him in 2020. Singer will get some strikeouts with his stuff and command, but his style of pitching is geared more toward generating weak contact.
He projects to be a number three/four type starter currently which will produce a 3.70 FIP (2.6 – 3.4 WAR). With a strong Royals defense behind him, Singer could produce a season with a 3.50 ERA, 8.0 K/9, and 2.4 BB/9 in about 11 starts (66.2 innings).
The competitive fire Singer has displayed could launch him to higher levels of production and right into the conversation of Rookie of the Year. The 2020 season is wildly unpredictable, but he will take advantage of the chaos and be the most consistent starter on the Royals roster in 2020.