Brady Singer, ranked the fifth overall prospect by Baseball America in the 2018 draft, has received criticism for not becoming the great, rotation-anchoring starter the Royals needed. Singer still hasn’t thrown his changeup very often, which sometimes gets him in trouble. He’s streaky and can be knocked around for string of starts until he finds his groove again. It seems like he’ll never be a staff “ace.”
There are a few issues with this. First, Singer wasn’t a top 5 or top 10 pick. The Royals selected him 18th overall, and for a college pitcher to do what Singer has done—regularly throw competent, healthy innings despite often terrible defenses behind him—is a great result.