Kansas City Royals: Brady Singer looked dominant near end of 2020

Brady Singer showed he’ll be a mainstay in the Kansas City Royals’ rotation moving forward.

The Kansas City Royals selected Florida pitcher Brady Singer with the No. 18 pick in the 2018 MLB Draft and he ended up making the Opening Day roster this year. Singer was a bright spot for the Royals in 2020 and while he took his fair share of lumps in the rotation, he proved he has the stuff to be a long-term member of the Royals rotation. He finished the season with a 4.06 ERA through 64.1 innings of work.

Fans were excited to watch Singer throughout the season, but it became crystal clear near the end of the season that he was going to be a special player for this organization. In three of his final four starts, Singer was incredible. He had the one rough start against the Cardinals on Sept. 22 where he allowed three runs in just three innings of work, but his other three starts were spectacular.

Here were Singer’s numbers in those three other starts and why Royals fans should be excited for a future with him in the rotation:

• Sept. 10 at Cleveland – Eight innings pitched while allowing just one hit
• Sept. 16 at Detroit – Six innings pitched while allowing two hits
• Sept. 27 vs Detroit – Seven innings pitched, three hits, one run

Singer struck out eight batters in each of those first two starts and struck out five more in that last start. In the Sept. 10 start, he didn’t allow that lone hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning. He carried a no hitter into the seventh inning and came so close to getting through that inning and taking it into the ninth.

If the Royals want to round the corner and become a playoff team, Singer has to continue building on what we saw from him in the final month of the 2020 season. He showed he could be a No. 1 or No. 2 starter in the rotation and he’ll be expected to continue to show that heading into 2021.

The pressure is off Singer a little bit next year, as Brad Keller will be the unquestioned ace, but he’ll be expected to slide into that No. 2 spot and potentially step into the ace role should Keller get injured or struggle throughout the course of the season.

We might have had a small sample size of Brady Singer in 2020, but the former first round pick did what he could in a shortened season and if the final month of the season is any indication as to what Royals fans will be treated to moving forward, this team should have quite the lethal rotation when they’re ready to contend for the postseason.