A good son and a college champ: Get to know Brady Singer
Mark Sheldon
@m_sheldonGOODYEAR, Ariz. -- When he was acquired from the Royals in November, starting pitcher Brady Singer immediately gave the Reds something they had in short supply. No Cincinnati starter currently on the 40-man roster has made more than 26 starts in a season or pitched at least 170 innings.
Singer, 28, has made 27 or more starts three times over his career. Last season, he worked 179 2/3 innings. Wade Miley, currently a non-roster invite rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, has accomplished both feats often.
¡°In this day and age, I know the number of innings has probably come down each decade. But the fact that he has logged 170, that¡¯s important," Reds manager Terry Francona said. "I know you have to get outs, and he¡¯s done it in a way that¡¯s huge. You have to fill a certain number of innings from your starters or you¡¯re swimming upstream.¡±
Over 32 starts and 179 2/3 innings for Kansas City last season, Singer was 9-13 with a 3.71 ERA and 3.1 bWAR.
In five big league seasons, Singer is 36-44 with a 4.28 ERA over 127 games, including 124 starts. He is ready to lend his experience to help influence younger pitchers.
¡°This is a young team that I think is going to be really, really good," Singer said. "Obviously led by Tito, and his resume speaks for itself. We are going to follow him. We're going to let him lead us and do what he does. He's obviously had a lot of success with younger teams, coming from Cleveland.
"Sounds clich¨¦ to say I¡¯m excited, but I truly am. It's a special group. Playing against these guys last year, you could see it. Some guys are coming back that were hurt the past year, so it¡¯s a whole team coming together. It¡¯s going to be fun.¡±
Here are four other things to know about Singer:
1. Generous gift
On Christmas Day 2018, Singer surprised his parents with a gift by paying off all of their debts and loans. He had his mother, Jacquelyn, read a letter he wrote to both parents aloud while he shot video.
Singer, the No. 18 overall pick in that year's Draft, received a signing bonus of $4,247,500. The emotional moment of appreciation was a social media sensation.
"I wasn¡¯t looking for fame or a viral moment or anything like that. I just wanted to show kids to appreciate who got you here," Singer said. "I wouldn¡¯t have been in this locker room. I wouldn¡¯t have been driving around the country at 16, 17, 18 years old without them.
"They did everything for me. They brought all the snacks to the games. It was really cool to give them a little appreciation for what they did. I couldn¡¯t do the things I did and have the memories growing up without the things they gave me.¡±
2. College World Series champion
With two strong starts in the College World Series, Singer helped lead the University of Florida to the 2017 national championship. In Game 1 of the finals vs. LSU, he had 12 strikeouts.
"The College World Series did help me prepare for bigger games," Singer said. "It gave me a little bit of the understanding of nerves and how to calm yourself down.¡±
3. Teammates traded for each other
Singer was teammates and friends at Florida with Jonathan India, for whom he was traded in the deal with Kansas City.
"He¡¯s going to love it there," Singer said. "I think it¡¯s very much like the Reds. He¡¯s going to enjoy every second. It¡¯s a great group of guys over there. He said the same to me [about Cincinnati]. He said these guys are incredible, it's run very professionally and that I should be excited. And I am. The last few days have been incredible, and it feels like a very easy transition.¡±
4. Sinker and slider equals bread and butter
Singer is a ground-ball pitcher who relies most on his sinker and slider.
¡°You don¡¯t want to shy away from what you¡¯re good at. My whole career, I¡¯ve done it with sinkers and sliders," said Singer, who had a 48.3 percent ground-ball rate in 2024.
Singer will sometimes use a four-seam fastball, and he is developing his cutter.
¡°I know he wants to come up with some ways to be a little more effective against left-handers," Francona said. "What we don¡¯t want to do is take away from what he's done really well. As we get to know him, those kinds of things will fall into place.¡±