Singer shows dominant form for Naturals
After 2 1/2 months in the Texas League, Brady Singer is looking like the pitcher who dominated the Carolina League for two months.The second-ranked Royals prospect struck out nine over seven innings in his best start at the Double-A level as Northwest Arkansas blanked Arkansas, 3-0, on Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens
After 2 1/2 months in the Texas League,
The second-ranked Royals prospect struck out nine over seven innings in his best start at the Double-A level as Northwest Arkansas blanked Arkansas, 3-0, on Wednesday night at Dickey-Stephens Park. He gave up four hits and a walk in his first scoreless outing since May 27.
Singer (4-3) got off to an inauspicious start as he issued a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first to Mariners No. 28 prospect
"I was listening to some things this morning about in-game adjustments, that's part of what I need to work on," he said. "Today, after that leadoff walk, I [started] making adjustments right in the middle of the game."
Singer bounced back, sandwiching strikeouts of top M's prospect
Gameday box score
The right-hander breezed through a 1-2-3 second before allowing singles to
With the Naturals clinging to a 1-0 lead, MLB.com's No. 55 overall prospect needed only 14 pitches to strike out No. 25 prospect
"I wanted to establish my fastball early," Singer said. "I've been a little wild at times since I got to Double-A. I really wanted my fastball command to be there tonight, and it was.
"My best pitch I had tonight though was obviously my slider. That's the slider I've been looking for all year. ... My changeup had good action and I was really pleased with that, too. All three pitches I could manipulate at times and put them where I wanted."
Pitch location was the difference-maker for Singer, who threw 61 of 91 pitches for strikes. Singer said he views his bumpy start at Double-A as a learning experience.
"I'm going to have the ups and downs, obviously, but the good thing is you learn from the downs," he said. "Today was good, I feel like I'm going in the right direction. The shutout outing was really good for me to see."
Singer began his first full professional season with Class A Advanced Wilmington, where he went 5-2 with a 1.87 ERA in 10 starts. He joined the Naturals after throwing 20 scoreless innings in his final three outings for the Blue Rocks but compiled a 4.36 ERA in his first 12 Texas League starts.
"You're going to struggle, hopefully everybody knows that," he added. "But the struggle helps you learn a lot of things. ... I've learned you have to focus every single outing."
Katie Woo is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow her on Twitter @katiejwoo.