“I thought, ‘We can’t lose a starting pitcher,’” Francona said.
Singer stayed in the game and checked out fine afterward. He was initially sore, but he remained in line to start on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers.
“The arm feels fine,” Singer said last week. “It was a little sore, but I’m totally fine.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Those who know Singer well recognized how badly Singer wanted to stay in and pitch deep into his most recent start, despite the injury scare.
“He competes his butt off every time he takes the mound,” said Reds reliever Scott Barlow, who played with Singer in Kansas City. “He always wants to take the ball. He’s a really good competitor.”
After Singer got hit in the arm with a line drive, Francona kept a very close eye on him and decided to pull him from the game after just five innings. Francona didn’t want to have Singer deal with the stress of a high pitch count.
“He politicked to stay in,” Francona said. “I give the kid credit. He wanted to stay in bad. If I’d have been younger in my days, he might have talked me into it. We talked. (Pulling him) was the right thing to do.”
Other than the injury scare, Singer was pleased with his most recent outing. He wasn’t been as sharp as he can be in May, but Singer has flipped the script and allowed a combined five runs between his two starts in June.
He did acknowledge that he wasn’t pitching quite as well in his most recent start after he took that hit on his pitching arm. “It might have affected the (pitch) movement,” Singer said. “It was a little different.”
But he pitched through it and kept the Reds in the game as the team picked up a win. His ability to do that is why the Reds valued him as much as they did during the offseason.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Singer has a long track record of staying healthy, and he has made between 24-32 starts in every full year of his big league career. Behind the scenes this season, he has been leading by example with his in-depth process to prepare for starts.
Garrett Hampson also played with Singer on the Kansas City Royals. Hampson said, “(Singer) is up there with one of the most fiery guys that I’ve played with. He really has that passion on the mound. You can tell that he really enjoys competing, and I love that. You know he’s going to give it his best effort every time he takes the mound.”
Singer’s health is especially important considering the state of the Reds’ pitching depth. Prospect Chase Petty has plenty of talent but showed in his first two big league starts that he needs time to develop. Petty has been pitching well in Triple-A recently.
Top prospect Chase Burns was recently promoted, but the Reds haven’t rushed him in his first full year of professional baseball. The Reds are also monitoring his innings this season.
The rest of the Triple-A rotation is made up of minor league journeyman, highlighted by Aaron Wilkerson who has consistently been pitching deep into games in Triple-A. Wilkerson, 36 years old, has a 5.08 ERA in Triple-A this year.
TODAY’S GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Detroit
When: 12:05 p.m.
TV: Roku
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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