Reds may have stumbled into a Brady Singer solution nobody expected

The Cincinnati Reds could walk away from Brady Singer’s latest start feeling like they found something. That’s entirely possible. Wednesday's starter catcher P.J. Higgins may have unlocked a better rhythm behind the plate. Maybe Singer needed a different voice.

But there’s also the possibility that the San Diego Padres offense just made another struggling pitcher look like he had solved his early season woes.

Singer turned in his best start of the season against San Diego, going six innings while allowing two earned runs on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts. That’s progress in comparison to his most recent starts.

Normally, Jose Trevino has been the catcher most tied to Singer. He's also been on the injured list twice this season, which has forced Cincinnati to shuffle the setup. Before this outing, Singer had taken four straight losses with Tyler Stephenson behind the plate. On Wednesday, Higgins catches him, Singer gives the Reds solid innings, and suddenly there’s a conversation to be had whether the Reds want it or not.

Is Higgins the answer for Singer? Is this a personal catcher situation starting to form? Maybe. Or, just maybe the Padres should make everyone pump the brakes.

The Reds suddenly have more to consider with Brady Singer’s catcher setup

Singer came into this conversation sitting at 2-6 with a 5.61 ERA over 13 games. He has 47 strikeouts in 61 innings and a 1.64 WHIP. He’s been a pitcher living in traffic for most of the season.

One of his biggest problems is the most obvious. He’s not built to overpower hitters and that has never been the selling point. His sinker averages 91.2 mph, and his arsenal mostly lives between 81 and 91 mph. That means he has to win with shapes, command, and sequencing.

Singer’s sinker, his main offering, is getting hit at a .320 clip. If the sinker is not controlling counts, stealing weak contact or setting up the rest of the arsenal, the whole thing is probably going down.

San Diego’s offense has been one of the easiest lineups in baseball to move through this season. They have gone cold in just about every way possible, and despite the stars in the lineup, they have failed to punish pitchers when they actually create pressure. 

Singer has spent most of the season pitching through traffic, and San Diego still found a way to let him off the hook. The Padres entered with an 86 wRC+, tied for dead last in baseball with the New York Mets, who had just taken a series from them while holding them to six total runs.

That is why Singer’s latest outing lands in such a strange place. For Cincinnati, it’s encouraging. It would be easy to want another look at the Singer-Higgins pairing, preferably next time against a real offense, but Trevino is expected back before Singer takes the mound again.

That might be fine. Trevino was already the more natural proof of concept. Singer hasn’t exactly been working deep into games this season, but his most stable outings have come with Trevino behind the dish. The Stephenson pairing has gone off the rails badly enough that the Reds probably don’t need to force that experiment anymore.

If Trevino returns and Singer looks functional again, then Cincinnati can treat this as business as usual. But if Trevino's health becomes an issue again, Higgins just gave the Reds a reason to keep that option alive.

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