Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Signs of Singer’s Rise

Brady Singer is one of the highest risers in my rankings this week. The Royals right-hander has put together two consecutive dominant performances, capping off a stellar month of July. He finished the month with stellar ratios, and his 42 strikeouts are tied for fifth-most among all starters for the month. He has also allowed just two home runs in five July starts. Could he finally be realizing his potential as a former first-round draft pick? Or will he continue to battle with inconsistency and frustrate fantasy managers?

Brady Singer’s Roller Coaster Season

Singer started the season in Kansas City’s bullpen. After three nondescript relief outings, the team optioned him to Triple-A Omaha. He allowed eight hits in 13.2 innings over three starts before being recalled to the big club in the middle of May. Singer hit the ground running. He posted consecutive starts of seven-inning, shutout baseball. His shutout streak was finally broken in his third start, but he struck out eight batters on his way to a second victory. It looked as if he could be on the precipice of putting it together. Then Singer suffered a June swoon.

It started with a shellacking in Houston. Singer served up three home runs en route to seven earned runs in his first loss of 2022. From there, he didn’t move the needle much from a fantasy standpoint. He finished the month with zero quality starts, an ERA just shy of 6.00, and an 18.7% strikeout rate. Singer allowed 37 baserunners and seven home runs in 28.2 innings. But once again the calendar changed, and so would Singer’s fortunes.

Singer struck out nine Tigers in a July 3 start but failed to make it out of the fifth inning. He posted back-to-back quality starts after that, though he did walk five batters in one of them. His last two outings have certainly been eye-opening. In starts against the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, Singer allowed just four hits in 13 innings while striking out 22 hitters. Has he finally arrived, and how should we rank him going forward? To say that his monthly numbers have been up and down would be putting it mildly.  

May (three starts): 1.37 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 0.46 HR/9, 23.3% K-BB%

June (five starts): 5.97 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 2.20 HR/9, 13.8% K-BB%

July (five starts): 2.05 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 0.59 HR/9, 25.8% K-BB%

ROS Outlook

While I have moved Singer up significantly in my rankings, I am hesitant to go all-in on him quite yet. He is still essentially a two-pitch pitcher, as his sinker and slider account for over 90 percent of his offerings. Some pitchers can get away with this. Cristian Javier is a good example. Javier throws his fastball about 61 percent of the time, and his slider roughly 26 percent of the time. But both offerings are elite. Both induce a batting average and expected batting average below .190. Singer may not be there quite yet, but his slider is quickly approaching elite-level status. Check out this bad boy:

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1552811485675544576?s=20&t=NBHSACojyu5QeYybcPSF0g

Singer’s sinker is coming along a little slower than the slider but is still a solid pitch. For the year, he has allowed a .248 batting average with a .230 xBA on the sinker. But without a quality third offering, hitters may have an easier time navigating Singer’s arsenal. His command and control have been phenomenal of late, but we have seen him quickly lose that in the past. There is also the minor issue of him being on a terrible team. The Royals do not offer a ton of win potential, which could hamper Singer’s fantasy value a bit. Kansas City enters the weekend having won just 39 percent of their games.

I believe that Singer is working his way out of the seemingly endless pile of pitchers who are considered streamers. But I am still hesitant to declare him an every-week starter regardless of circumstances. He is in that range of pitchers whom I would throw more often than not but is not a no-brainer start every time out. Although in fairness, that is the logic that found him on my bench for the Yankees start. I have him just inside my top-250 overall, but he is trending upward. His next few starts should be quite telling. Singer is scheduled to face the White Sox, Red Sox, and Dodgers in that timeframe. With two scheduled starts next week, I would start him in all formats and hope he can continue his recent form.

Rest of Season Fantasy Baseball Rankings