KC Royals’ Brady Singer struck out a career-best 12. Here’s what was working for him

Brady Singer’s improved changeup helped him become a “totally different pitcher” earlier this season when he returned in May after being demoted to Triple-A.

So when Saturday night’s starter saw that he would be facing a Tampa Bay Rays lineup that included eight left-handed batters, he wasn’t exactly mad about it.

“I saw the lineup earlier, and I was like, ‘Welp, alright.’ But it was good,” Singer said. “I got to throw the changeup at that point, and that’s something I was happy with.”

Singer enjoyed one of his best starts as a Royal on Saturday, striking out a career-high 12 and holding the Rays hitless until a bunt single in the fifth inning as KC won 6-3.

In the six-inning, three-hit outing, Singer — who throws his changeup almost exclusively against left-handed batters — went to the change early and more often than usual … including during his pre-game warmup.

A lot of the changeups he threw on Saturday registered as sliders, Royals manager Mike Matheny said. Of the changeups that did register correctly, Singer threw six as first pitches — he said the changeup has the “exact (arm) slot I need to throw the fastball in.”

“It’s amazing how important the changeup is for him, too,” Matheny said. “If you watch, he really works on it in his warmups. It just kind of gets him into a good slot, which helps the sinker. We were always hoping that he would find confidence in that third pitch, but he’s using it actually to make the others better, which is perfect.”

The changeup was just the appetizer to start off some at-bats, though. The main dish? Singer’s slider, which he called the key to his successful start.

Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. had a perfect view of the slider when the Royals shifted him toward second base against the Rays’ plethora of left-handed batters.

“I told (second baseman) Whit (Merrifield) after the first two hitters, with some of the sliders I saw him throw: ‘He’s on tonight. It’s going to be special,’” Wittsai d. “And it was.”

Singer said he was struggling to find command of his pitches early in the game. In the second inning, he allowed two walks. But he felt like he could rely on his slider and collected the majority of his 12 strikeouts and swings-and-misses with the wipeout pitch.

Once Singer was able to find his fastball command and locate the pitch in to those lefties and set up the slider, there was almost nothing that Tampa Bay’s sluggers could do. Almost nothing, anyway.

In the sixth inning, former Royals minor-leaguer Roman Quinn came up as the nine-hole hitter. In his first at-bat, Singer had struck him out with the slider.

Quinn broke up any whispers of a no-hit bid by laying down a bunt toward first base. Singer slipped on the way to field the ball, and the cleanup effort from first baseman Pratto, who tossed it to Merrifield covering first base, wasn’t in time, according to the MLB replay center. Matheny challenged the call, and despite the fact that safe-call was upheld, he said he thought Quinn was out.

“We trust our replay system as much as anybody,” Matheny said. “And I think that’s a great challenge when it’s close, all things considered. There’s not a hit on the board yet.”

Quinn would go on to score an unearned run later in the inning. But despite the error and a single from Rays left fielder Luke Raley to score the run, Singer stayed with his bread-and-butter pitch to close out the frame.

Against one of Tampa Bay’s most dangerous hitters, Ji-Man Choi, Singer painted the bottom inside corner with two fastballs to get to a 0-2 count. Then, to finish Choi off, he went to his slider: throwing the pitch seemingly in the same location as the fastball before it broke toward Choi’s hip and left the slugger on one knee after waving weakly at the pitch.

An impressive career-high 12th strikeout.

“I’m just glad he’s on our team,” Witt said. “I faced him once in spring training, or something, and it wasn’t a fun at-bat. So I’ll just leave it at that.”