Brady Singer dazzles in debut with Reds

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CINCINNATI — Going back to 1900, no Cincinnati Reds pitcher had gone at least seven shutout innings and allowed one hit or fewer in his debut until Brady Singer did it Monday night against the Texas Rangers.

This offseason, the Reds’ biggest move was trading former National League rookie of the year Jonathan India to the Kansas City Royals for Singer, his college teammate.

Despite doing something nobody had ever done for one of the game’s most storied franchises, Singer was something of an afterthought in the Reds’ 14-3 drubbing of the Rangers on a chilly Monday evening at Great American Ball Park.

What wasn’t new was Singer’s marveling at his shortstop. In Kansas City, it was Bobby Witt Jr., who finished second in American League MVP voting last year. In Cincinnati, it’s Elly De La Cruz behind him. Though Singer silenced the Rangers’ bats, De La Cruz grabbed a torpedo bat for the first time before Monday’s game, then went 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, a steal and seven RBIs. Armed with his new lumber, De La Cruz made a single out: a rocket that measured 99 mph off the bat for a lineout, which was the softest ball he put in play.

436 feet later… @ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/ABToyEL7b4

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 1, 2025

Though De La Cruz stands out — not only because of his 6-foot-5 frame but also his top-flight sprint speed, elite exit velocity and arm that has produced triple-digit throws in the infield — Singer is more reserved. The 28-year-old Floridian once went viral, but it was for paying off all his parents’ debt after he signed his first pro contract.

Singer is also listed at 6-5, but he has the type of look that blends into a crowd more easily than De La Cruz, who has a penchant for wearing his favorite color, pink, on and off the field. If Singer is upset by being overshadowed, he has never shown it. Not when he was winning a national championship with the Florida Gators in college with the fiery India, nor in Kansas City, where the 2018 first-rounder averaged 164 1/3 innings over the last three seasons.

Though few have seen anything like De La Cruz before, Singer has been fortunate, first playing with Witt and now De La Cruz.

“I’m definitely really lucky to play with the two guys I played with, two of the best players I’ve ever seen play the game,” Singer said after Monday’s game. “They’re game-changers. I think that’s the biggest thing; in one swing of the bat, one play, they can change the entire game.”

With Singer and the rest of the starters the Reds have accumulated, the Reds are hoping to change their recent history of starters dealing with shorter outings and seasons cut short by injury. Of all the qualities the Reds targeted with Singer, it was the innings.

So, despite De La Cruz’s seven RBIs that stole Monday’s show, Singer’s throwing the same number of innings was a positive sign for the Reds’ staff. Though Singer has topped 150 innings in each of the past three seasons, the only Reds pitcher to do the same in that span was Opening Day starter Hunter Greene, who threw a career-high 150 1/3 innings in 2024.

There was talk about how Singer’s fly-ball tendencies would fare at homer-happy Great American Ball Park, and a single start on a 44-degree day might not be the best barometer of future success in a place where the homers come more quickly as the temperatures rise, but he showed why he has been able to make start after start over the years and pitch into the seventh inning, as he did Monday.

“I think he really pitched; he got some quick outs, our guys didn’t have to stand around, and he threw strikes. It was very impressive,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “We’d take that, believe me, every time. He’s not going to go out there every time and give up just one or two hits, but he’s got a little more to his arsenal to handle lefties, which is going to be advantageous for him and helpful. And he’s just a good pro, a good worker, and he’s working at his craft.”

This offseason included adding a new pitch: a cutter. Singer wanted a pitch he could use to be more effective against left-handed hitters. Throughout his big-league career, left-handers have put up a .783 OPS against him, with righties recording a .682 OPS against him.

After playing with the cutter in the offseason and through spring training, he unleashed it with stakes for the first time Monday. He just threw five of the cutters Monday, but he threw them to lefties and righties, including getting a swinging strike from Rangers leadoff man and right-handed hitter Marcus Semien. In all, Singer threw five pitches Monday: sinker (38 percent), four-seam fastball (30 percent), slider (20 percent), cutter (5 percent) and sweeper (4 percent).

His catcher, Jose Trevino, had played against Singer before but has only two plate appearances against him in the big leagues, striking out in both of them.

“He’s nasty. Facing him, he’s gross,” Trevino said. “He’s got nasty stuff, and just adding pitches like that really helps his arsenal.”

After Trevino got traded to the Reds, one of the first pitchers he texted was Singer.

“Hey, man, I think this is going to be really, really good and really fun,” Trevino texted him. The Platinum Glove-winning catcher also let him know he’d take care of him, as he tries to do for all his pitchers.

The two backed up their words Monday. When Singer was asked how he was able to be so effective against a Rangers team that has been a sexy pick to win the American League, he boiled it down to one thing.

“I mean, listen to Trevy,” Singer said, referring to his catcher. “Trevy was incredible back there. We had a good game plan going in, and we executed what he wanted. We were able to throw the sinker to both sides of the plate, and all the pitches felt really good.”

Even with a big lead — the Reds scored three runs in the first and second innings, then exploded for six in the sixth inning and another pair in the seventh — Singer just went about his business, making sure he stayed warm and his fielders didn’t get too cold, either.

“He’s a pitcher,” Trevino said. “I feel like he’s one of those pitchers that when he’s done playing this game that young guys should be talking to this guy because he has so much knowledge and he knows how to pitch and how to go about his business. He’s a professional.”

That professionalism, in his preparation and what he showed Monday, is why he is in Cincinnati.

(Photo: Jeff Dean / Getty Images)

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