Brady Singer showing what he can become | Kansas City Royals Podcast

Singer I feel like I can finally say brady singer is firmly a top three pitcher in this rotation will it last though let's talk about it in this edition of lockon Royals you are locked on Royals your daily Kansas City Royals podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are tuning to another edition of locked on Royals and the lock on podcast Network as always I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter or X Johnny j15 that's jny j15 you also can catch us on wherever you get your podcast that can be Spotify Apple podcast Amazon music Google podcast we're on Odyssey and we're on YouTube just be sure to hit the follow button and subscribe if you are a firsttime listener and you want to know a little bit more about me I'm based here in Kansas City I work at sports radio 810 whb I do some co-hosting some producing and some hosting over there that's my day job but after work uh when I am having some downtime that's when I bring you this 30 minute episode of Royals baseball which we do Monday through Friday now I want to get out ahead of this because it is a little bit of a programming note next week we're gonna have Monday through Friday and then the week after that uh I am going to be out of commission for those five days so the week of what would that be the 20th I think the 20th through the 24th we will not have any episodes I'll be on vacation still keeping up with the Royals probably tweeting out some stuff but I'll be on vacation won't be bringing you any podcast episodes so I do apologize about that but I am going to take some time off now before we get any started any further on our episode today let's give a shout out to our title sponsor in eBay Motors they're going to have you taken care of they're G to get the part that you need every single time and we got more in them coming up in about 15 minutes or so well in a huge statement game today the Royals got to Kaufman stadium and I guess had a choice and that choice was are you going to roll over and once again have a better team take a series from you or are you g to be able to flush the catastrophic loss you suffered on Tuesday now now now maybe you say that's dramatic maybe you say that is you know maybe stepping over a line of saying catastrophic or a nightmare or anything like that but I really did feel like last night put this team immediately at a Crossroads because that loss angered so many people and even though you know we had comments on our on our video from last night and I hope you enjoyed it we had comments of you know it's one of 162 and we did say that in the episode of whether it was 10 to nothing or they lost in the way they did it counts the same in the loss colum but the feeling the emotion of a loss like that that's what makes things a little bit different but if you you ever needed a reason to believe why this team could be for real it's games like today where you are task with such a huge responsibility of just flushing what happened and going out there and beating a really good baseball team the Brewers are a very good club they are likely a playoff team and you walk away from this series thanks to the guy we're going to talk about feeling like he should have swept him but in the past right that Baltimore series on the road the Baltimore series at home the Detroit series on the road the Texas series well that team's really good and we feel like we should have taken the series or swept them but you didn't you lost that series you lost all of those series I just brought out today was different today you won the series and said we should have had more more and what's great is even as dramatic as that win was for Milwaukee you think about the Brewers leaving Kansas City they had that Miracle rally in the ninth inning yesterday that's what it took to avoid a sweep so who feels better this Royals team that walks away with the series win and you had a terrible loss but you found a way to win the series or is it Milwaukee going well that was a great and fantastic game and is going to be on our highlight reels for maybe the rest of the season and G to be on our holiday replays if they do that on Bal North or whatever it's called for the Brewers uh is is it something where you take pride in I don't think the Brewers are very happy leaving Kansas City with the way they played but it wasn't like they came in you know just and played disastrous ball it still felt like the Brewers had moments where they were playing really good ball and in every single one of these games of the series they had a lead at one point whether it was two to nothing or it was one to nothing they had a lead on the Royals yet they walk away taking two of three and Brady singer which is why I wanted to highlight him tonight Brady singer had such a tall task of being the starter who had to go out there after last night's game and not implode on the mound to not just give that game away in the first inning and I'll be quite honest with you the way that game started out I went well it seems like one of those games where they just didn't shake it they didn't show up to the ballpark focused on the series finale they were still hung up on the dam last night's loss really stunk I mean two batters into the game it's one nothing Milwaukee it should have been two nothing Milwaukee but Brady singer did what James MacArthur couldn't and got Willie Adamas out when it mattered and he gets that strike out of adamus and he never allows a run the rest of the afternoon after William krais you know pokes that RBI double into left center field do he was not nails but really good I would say good enough he did his job to throw five and a third of one run ball after what happened the night before that shows to me you can trust Brady singer in a stopper situation it wasn't a losing streak he was stopping but it immediately makes you feel better about this club that we don't even have to revisit what happened on Tuesday night and we did discuss that in last night's episode about if you win you don't completely forget about it but it takes the sting completely out of that game like now you kind of just chalk up Tuesday night with how you chocked up Sunday a crappy way to lose a baseball game but they have built this rotation that makes you feel so much better about the the longevity of this success the fact they've gotten Brady singer to seemingly bounce back you know and you feel like you can count on Michael Waka bouncing back get Alec Marsh back this weekend so the normal five are almost back to full health and going to be making starts just right after the other and discussing how great they pitched in The Dugout with each other and I'm not sure this Royal's team is 22 and 16 if it wasn't for this revelation of Brady singer and a lot of credit goes to him a lot of credit goes to Brian Sweeney and Zack Bo being able to change the ways being being able to adjust to be coachable listen we all harped on Brady singer last year of how in the world doesn't he throw a change up you know he's so stubborn he won't throw those pitches and I remember Brady singer said in the postgame look I can't really focus on a third pitch or my my first two or my my best two are not very good you know because I'm not really challenging anybody with something and the fact that he got back to a little bit of that velocity and that velocity was pretty firm in the first ining he's not running up 95 96 but 93 94 looks pretty good with that Sinker and when that came back into play and he got that horizontal run it made things interesting now that slider comes back into play that for seam is more of a command pitch and that change up can be thrown every once in a while that you can see something like this it makes you feel so much more confident you know going into each series there's not really a drop off with this group like Michael Waka being the drop off is not something I I really worry about I think tomorrow he's got a really good chance to get back up on the horse and have a quality start something that Royal starters have been very accustomed to the beginning part of 2024 but having Brady singer bounce back almost makes up for MJ Melendez struggling for Hunter Renfro in the signing that he was for Waka struggles for some of the bullpen struggles I mean getting Brady singer back was so vital to this team success I mean you think about the offense and its struggles and oh they can't do anything through the first five innings are the Royals six games over 500 if they hadn't built a rotation like this if they didn't have three guys emerge as the clear cut number one two and three being Cole Reagan being Lugo being singer I mean we all know that injuries can get in the way we know that that can halt this group because at that point you worry about the dep can Jonathan Bowen keep making spot starts can Daniel Lynch give you the same thing he did on Sunday probably not it's probably the hit and miss with that which is what you'd expect for your number six and your number seven starter but if the Royals only had Reagan and Lugo thriving right now they may be 500 and that would still be okay but the fact you've got three guys right now that all can act like a stopper I mean Milwaukee came in into this series with the second best on basee percentage as a team and Reagan threw a quality start Lugo threw a quality start and singer was two outs from a quality start it's just automatic it's just repetition at this point and to see this growth to see this transformation not necessarily getting back to 2022 Brady singer but maybe being the best version of himself that he can be at this point in his career just being able to work five six Innings three runs or less every single time out I will take that for my number three in the rotation I feel like I can firmly say that's where Brady singer is at for me okay we're going to take our first break of the show when we come back I want to bring up a big problem with this Bullpen and it's something that isn't going to change we'll talk about it next on lockdown Royals you are tuning to lockdown Royals on the lockdown podcast Bullpen Network I your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter X Johnny Jore 15 that's at jny Jore one5 before we go any further let's give a shout out to one of the sponsors today and our title sponsor in eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps you r or die alive eBay bers has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance superchargers roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you're into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one ride or die you'll always find exactly what you're looking for and with eBay guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or your money because eBay Motors you're burning River not cash with all the parts you need the price you want it's easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge wins keep your red eye alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusions apply and one last reminder that eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers well the bullpen was pretty shaky in this home stand and it was a 500 home stand and I will always say this on this podcast 500 road trips 500 home stands are just fine then you kind of Hope in the in between when you have a really good road trip right you you win five of seven you can come back home and just have a 500 hom stand like that's just the Baseline there now over the grand scheme of things you hope to have over 500 on the road and then you hope to play 500 ball or over 500 at home excuse me and then 500 ball on the road that's kind of the Baseline what every team strives for and so far the Royals have done a lot right uh in putting themselves in this position of not having long losing streaks I mean we're at May 8th and they're going to take on the angels for a four game set the angels are record-wise one of the worst teams in the American League and Mike Trout's not going to be available and they no longer have sh Otani of course and the West Coast Road Trip is not always been kind to the Royals but this might be one that goes in their favor they'll take on the angels for four they'll take on the Mariners earlier next week then they'll come back home for the Oakland Athletics and the Detroit Tigers but I look at how this team has gotten to this point I look at how this success can be sustained of course the rotation we just brought up in the first segment there the rotation is very important for this team getting to the promised land and I think for this group the promised land has to start at just getting into the playoffs and at that point your hat is in the ring anything can happen we saw Arizona make a tremendous run last year but getting the hat in the ring is important and they're not going to be able to do it if the bullpen has in a crucial let's say couple weeks stretch in the second half not going to be able to get it done when you have a bullpen blowing two run leads with two outs in the last inning right you're not going to be able to get it done when you have a eight to four lead and then you look up and you're having to use four or five arms like eventually guys are going to get gased they're going to get fatigued it's going to become an issue now this problem that I want to highlight is something that maybe not everybody sees as an issue but it's one that I am going to point out this Bullpen is not bad okay let's get that out in front here this Bullpen is not bad in fact they have a decent erra it imploded a little bit you know against Texas because of that 15 to4 game and they choked it away on Sunday then they choked it away on Tuesday so the erra's dropped a little bit but still it's not a bottom five bullpen in this league there are guys you can count there's guys you can trust James MacArthur it was great to see him get back out on the horse today and get the save you know on Hill Serpa has become a really good piece John shriver's been fantastic Chris Stratton seems very Hit or Miss like when he's on it's eight pitches and he's done when he's off he's walking two guys an inning and you know things can spiral from there uh Nick Anderson before today I was about to actually put out a tweet that Nick Anderson had quietly become much better his V was spiking he was going 95 96 but Gary Sanchez being the strong man that he is just guided a 96 mph fastball down in the zone over the wall in right center field and that goes back to the point of why James MacArthur maybe nibbled around Gary Sanchez last night I don't think he wanted to just feed him a fast ball because Gary Sanchez can do that and he did it to Cole Reagan as well but this problem at hand I think it is an issue that they don't really have a big time strikeout arm where it's the eighth inning and MacArthur and Shri and Serpa can't go they need to bring in this this Workhorse if you will to come in fire in 97 98 99 and not wildly but you can get the swing and miss and the Royals in the past have had some of those guys Josh stama was a big swing and Miss pitcher Dylan Coleman before the vo drop good swing and Miss pitcher Scott Barlo was as well and when he had the velocity on his side he was really a good strikeout pitcher but MacArthur's not shor's not stratton's not sera's not Nick Anderson's not Tyler Duffy's not you know Will Smith isn't Matt Sour's not so there's the options and yeah Carlos Hernandez and John McMillan were going to be the Firepower they were going to be the fire breathing dragons coming out of the bullpen that could hurl in their 98 99 100 101 here's also the weird thing though Hernandez isn't a strikeout pitcher he throws hard he does not strike out a lot of guys and he's still slowly working his way back up from Omaha after being delayed in spring training because of a setback John McMillan same thing and John McMillan's V has not been where it was last year so that was the hope and I almost wonder now with these guys what the reason I teased it on the break of it ain't going to change because we're not going to see John shriber all of a sudden be pumping 9798 we not going to see Chris Stratton running it up 95 96 we're not going to see James MacArthur touching 99 and 100 that's just not the case here they can sit low to mid90s but that's not the high-powered stuff I'm talking about will Klein has that and I do think will Klein's gonna have a role in this Bullpen sooner rather than later I think that Jonathan Bowen's gonna get a chance in this Bullen you know I think Walter Pennington will as well but he's also low to mid 90s maybe he's the swing and Miss you've been needing and maybe that's what I should tailor it to not so much the high velocity but the swing and miss you need to be able to generate strikeouts coming out of the bullpen otherwise you are giving other teams a better chance of getting a rally together you know if you are going to be low 90s you got to have pinpoint control you got to generate the soft contact and some guys in this Bullpen can like I said it's not a bad Bullpen by any means and I'm actually much higher on the bullpen than people are even after last night or even after today you know I thought Tyler Duffy before today had become you know somebody you could count on to get three outs but the command slipped away from him but he still got stuff that moves that looks good but that is one thing I think can really take this team to another level that this Bullpen can bring in a a fire breather you know you look around at some of the great bullpens out there and you know you could start in the American League Central the fact that Cleveland at the end of the game can go to Emanuel CL in his 100 m hour cutter I mean it's you know that's more so of a fortune that a lot of teams don't have but still it's this feeling of how are you gonna string it together against CLA say the Royals have done it before but many teams this year and in previous years have not been able to do it you know last year they had a RIS Chapman when a RIS Chapman was on you just weren't going to hit him he was hitting 103 104 and now he's not very good this year you look at Detroit in their Bullpen now Detroit you know coughed up a lead today they've coughed up a couple of leads you know as good as Detroit's Bullpen is overall they have their issues know but Foley runs at 99 100 chaen can throw pretty hard um you know even guys local guy Joey Wentz it just can get more swing and miss and you know it's not everybody in that Bullpen but I I'm more so trying to highlight somebody like f of he's the closer he's the backend guy and James MacArthur again I think he's a very good arm but to be able to go to somebody else you know maybe in a spot like today instead of Duffy of let's go to Carlos Hernandez let's go to John McMillan right now you can't let's go to will Klein and you can just trust that you know he's got the stuff that's going to make it really hard to mount to come back again they've got some reinforcements or right now the one thing that's not going to change with this Bullpen is how hard throw and maybe not the swing and Miss because they don't have more of the overpowering stuff let us know your thoughts on that on YouTube or on Twitter you can always find me at Johnny j15 okay before we move on to our final segment a shout out to locked on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you can't miss analysis opinions news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the lock on podcast Network your team every day well the Outfield has been at least a problem offensively and bigger than most out there especially of teams over 500 but is there a prospect I'm starting to come around on that could be a future fix for this Outfield we'll talk about that next on lockdown Royals you are tuning to lockdown Royals and the lockdown podcast Network I'm your Cross host Jack Johnson you can find me on Twitter X Johnny j15 that's jny j15 before we go any further want to give a shout out to the final sponsor today in prize pick spring training is over and baseball season is officially underway don't miss your chance to add your favorite players from the diamond in your prize picks entries whether it's strikeouts RBI or first inning runs take your pick of more or less and add them to your prize picks entries today you can also get on the playoff action and win up to 100 times your money on prize picks as you and the world's best players take the game to a new level during this basketball postseason again with picks very very fun to use and use our code of locked on MLB for a first deposit match of up to $100 again that's locked on MLB l c o and MLB for a first deposit match of up to $100 well we know pretty much everything we need to know about the Outfield how they're playing what the ceiling may be uh if some of these guys are going to get going we've had plenty of conversations on this podcast whether it be on YouTube or you're listening on Apple podcast Spotify the same damn thing or if you follow me on Twitter you know we've had these discussions but what I've always tried to relay is the Royals are not going to make a move with the Outfield until they actually have a legitimate fix right and it may be somewhere else they wanted to trade for Louis arise last week it didn't happen so they move onward back to hoping that MJ Melendez Kyle Isbell and Hunter Renfro are going to be able to give you enough in this lineup now MJ Melendez made a game saving play today just on the defensive side of things offensively he looks just lost at the plate right I I can admit that a big MJ guy he's lost at the plate Kyle Isbell has actually been much better of late and with his defense out there I want Kyle lbell out there every single day he's starting to come around a little bit it may be a a short spell it may not be able to last very long but to me he is somebody that is so good to defensively and what he's doing right now is just fine especially the N hole also if he doesn't have this stretch go that long he's a nine hole hitter right you're not going to have a lot of great nine hole hitters no matter where you look in Major League Baseball now I also get it somebody's listening and going Drew Waters right Drew Waters is the fix and I do believe Drew Waters gets a chance and I would say sooner rather than later you know the way Hunter Renfro is playing I don't know how much longer you can keep running him out there every single day and expect things to change I really believe it's May for Hunter Renfro and that may be it you know that may be your Telltale sign of he ain't turning things around or you know you could move Hunter rro to the bench because he's got that power and he in his career has shown that he's got tremendous power and you option Nelson Vasquez back down who's not even playing every day anymore the first five hitters you know who it's usually going to be like we said last night the bottom four it's pulling name out of a hat somebody's playing somewhere in the bottom four there but Drew Waters can be a guy right I do think Drew Waters is in a Royals uniform at some point over the next month or so whether it's due to injury whether it's due for a guy struggling he's hitting so well in Omaha that it makes sense but now this Domino move becomes a little bit more interesting if Drew Waters goes up to Kansas City it's going to open up a spot in the Outfield and I don't know if you've been keeping up with it or you haven't been following you know Alex Duval on Twitter and Preston far on Twitter two guys that have been all over Gavin cross this year he's been tremendous in doubling absolutely tremendous and much better of late and Gavin cross just turned 23 so he's not a a 19 or a 20 year old you need to slowly work into things he's 23 so if he continues to hit the way that he does and that made what the Royals are thinking let's wait till Gavin cross has a big enough you know sample size there you don't want to rush him because remember last year he had the tick born illness or it was something called like the the something mountain tick virus or it's it was weird but completely immobilized him it wasn't able to play was really sick from it and it completely changed his entire season now he's back now he's healthy and I remember in spring training you know I think it was Paul Gibson might might have been saying this to me and saren Petra you know he was hitting the tops of trees you know in in batting practice and he looked really really good and he looked stronger and that swing was back and he was a first round pick and he was somebody that you know so early into his career he just struggled and I went well there you go again I didn't want to give up on him but it was when are you gonna get a guy that just immediately moves up quicker quicker quicker and you're not going well he's 25 in double A yeah he's hitting well but he's 25 in double a no Gavin cross could be that Domino move of Drew Waters goes up to Kansas City Spot opens up in Omaha there goes Gavin cross but we're not talking about Gavin cross being a future fix for next year's Outfield or the year after that I think you hope at that point he is an everyday outfielder because he was first round toal he becomes one of your better prospects fled down the boards a little bit because of last year's class and guys that were thriving more so than him but I'm talking about this year I am on the train now and I am of the belief that if the Royals are in serious contention and this is second half this is August this is September it wouldn't surprise me if Gavin cross continues this trend that they look to him as a fix that they look to him as a guy that for maybe the playoffs or a last push in the month of September they turn to him because of the Outfield depth in this organization you know if you call up Drew Waters and Drew Waters doesn't work maybe you do look elsewhere maybe you look for someone at the trade deadline but I wonder if Gavin cross you know being a college bat being a little bit more of a seasoned Prospect it is only year three for him but he's a guy that maybe you do Fast Track or maybe you take it slow like you did with Vinnie pasquantino of he's you tearing it up in double tearing it up in Oman you just go he's going to stay down there for the full year we've seen the Royals do that before just keep a guy down there all year long let him hit his tail off let him have the confidence you don't want to force him into a situation he won't be comfortable with and I'm not saying Gavin cross wouldn't want to play in the major leagues this year but it's a lot of pressure to put on somebody to be the quote unquote fix right I think the Royals really highlighted this and this was still in the Dayton Moore era not the JJ bolo era but when Carlos Santana was really struggling in 2022 and Vinnie pas was just scorching the ball in Omaha everybody including me said why are they not making the change this seems like the perfect time to just switch him out DFA Carlos Santana or trade him and bring up Vinnie pasquantino well the Royals didn't want to just cut bait with Sana because of trade value but also they didn't want to bring him up to be the fix you know the offense is so bad they're not getting any runs and now it's put pressure on a guy in the middle of our lineup who's a rookie to be that guy to drivein runs to be the table setter it's a lot of pressure to put on somebody even if they were to call Gavin cross up and be hitting seven8 or ninth in the lineup it's still a lot of pressure and especially if that team is in postseason contention but it does feel like it's a possibility at least not so much because you need to rush him but because the Outfield depth in this organization is so thin if Tyler Gentry was hitting better he would be right behind Drew w not hitting better Nick Lofton could be that guy but I don't think they see him as an everyday outfielder they just see him as being that super utility guy likely to take over for Garrett hamson whenever they decide to discard Garrett hamson DFA him or I I don't even think he's got a minor league option to be honest with you but that to me feels like the best fit for Nick Loft we're talking about starters here Drew Waters I think undeniably has the first crack from Omaha but if it's not Drew Waters and you're looking further down the road and you need somebody to play every single day maybe Gavin cross works his way into that conversation never would have thought that last year but the way he's played this year though very early I don't know how much longer you keep him down in double A he's been that good I'd let him at least hit the first half there I'd keep him in double A and make sure that you know the slumps they're not super long and then he just keeps terrorizing double a pitching and he s over to triaa where it actually in my opinion gets easier and you get some 4A guys and you know some washed up players guys that aren't very good anymore I always think it's harder to thrive in double A than it is in Triple A you know double A you're facing some prize prospects right you know he had um some top arms some top 100s they've already had to face this year but to me it's at least something to keep on your radar for now I'm not going to make the prediction he will be on the roster this year but with the Outfield depth in this organization he's at least worth mentioning at this point in time so we'll see how that all plays out but a really good start to the year for Gavin cross all right that's going to do it for another edition of lockdown Royals and the lockdown podcast Network I've been your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter at Johnny j15 and find our podcast on wherever you listen to your podcast Spotify Apple podcast Amazon music Google podcast Odyssey and r on YouTube just be sure to hit the follow button and subscribe one last shout out to lockon sports it's here for you 247 covering the top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of lockdown plus our national shows covering every League find lockd on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app tomorrow we're going to preview a little bit of this series of the angels and if Michael Wala can get back on track but until then you take it easy Kansas City