Brady

Singer

The Rangers were all over Singer today; their average EV on the 16 balls in play against him was 100.4 mph. Still, the four hardest of those all turned into outs and none became homers. Singer will take a 5.00 ERA into his third outing of the year next week in Miami.

After two scoreless innings, Singer gave up a Trevor Story homer in the third and two more runs on three singles and a wild pitch in the fourth. That got him up to 74 pitches, and since the latter half of his spring was affected by a blister, the Reds didn’t bring him back for the fifth. Singer’s sinker today was down 1.7 mph from last year. He was about one mph better in the spring, so this was probably a temporary drop. He’s due to make his next start Friday in Texas.

Singer struck out three, issued one walk and threw 51 of 78 pitches for strikes. The key takeaway is that the 29-year-old made it through the outing without the blister issue resurfacing. He’ll take the ball on Sunday against the Red Sox to open the regular season.

Singer told reporters that the blister issue that cuased him to leave Wednesday’s start is “pretty much gone.” Assuming no flare ups, he should be ready to roll for the regular season.

Nothing additional from the club, but it sounds like Singer’s removal was precautionary. However, blister issues can be tricky matters. The 29-year-old righty struck out three over 3 2/3 scoreless frames before exiting. He’s one of the few veterans in Cincinnati’s rotation, which will feature a trio of youngsters in Chase Burns, Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson occupying two spots. There should be an additional update on his status shortly.

Singer came in with a 9.00 ERA in five innings, but he fared well against the Giants’ road lineup, which featured Nate Furman leading off and Christian Koss batting third. With two strikeouts and two walks, he’s now boasting a 6/6 K/BB in nine innings.

He struck out three today, even though his CSW was a poor 17%. Singer gave up five runs in his first spring outing Monday against the Cubs, so this leaves him with a 9.00 ERA after two starts.

The first five hitters in the first collected three doubles, a single and a walk before Singer got a double play ball and a strikeout. The second was a little better, but he still gave up one run before Scott Kingery was thrown out at home to end the frame. Singer got just one miss on 20 swings today. His rotation spot is surely safe this spring, but if Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder stay healthy, one wonders if Singer will be one of the Reds’ five best starters for the long run.

That’s a big arbitration salary, but Singer is a former Super Two player, which bumped him up some, with a whole lot of quantity under his belt; he’s made 156 starts and pitched 855 innings since debuting during the shortened 2020. He’ll be eligible for free agency for the first time at age 30 next winter.

Singer struck out five before giving up a two-run homer to Danny Jansen in the fourth. He was pulled immediately afterwards. His regular season ends at 14-12 with a 4.03 ERA. We imagine he’ll be left off the Wild Card roster after throwing 71 pitches today. Then it would be between he and Zack Littell for the fourth spot in the Reds’ rotation if they advance to the NLDS.