Brady Singer was scheduled to be the starting pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals. The forecast made it clear that the game was not going to begin on time and an hour before the game was scheduled to begin the team announced it wouldn’t start on time. Less than two hours later, with it still raining and more rain in the forecast the game was postponed.
Cincinnati is taking that opportunity to skip over Singer in the rotation rather than push everyone back a day, first reported by Fox 19’s Charlie Goldsmith. Singer has struggled this season for the most part. He’s had a few solid outings in 2026, but he’s also had several games where he didn’t give his team much of a chance to win. And in May it’s been quite bad for the veteran right-handed starter.
His first start of the month came against Pittsburgh and the Pirates scored four runs on seven hits and two walks against him and Singer only recorded one out in the 4th inning before he exited the game in what turned into a 9-1 loss by the Reds. The next time out he was able to keep his team in the game as he allowed four runs in 6.0 innings against the Cubs, but Cincinnati would lose the game in extra innings that day.
Back at home on the 12th Singer faced the Washington Nationals and much like his first start of the month he was unable to complete the 4th inning. This time around he gave up three runs on six hits and a walk, while giving up three home runs in just 3.2 innings in a contest the Reds lost 10-4. On the road against Cleveland in his last start he allowed five runs on seven hits – giving up three more home runs – and a walk in 4.0 innings in another loss.
Four starts in May, an ERA of 8.47, and he’s given up 26 hits with nine home runs in 17.0 innings pitched while the Reds have lost each game he’s started. Cincinnati is hoping that the extra rest could give him a little bit of a reset to get things moving in the right direction when he takes the mound next (likely against Atlanta next weekend).
Nick Lodolo, Chase Burns, and Andrew Abbott will start the games in New York against the Mets that are set to be played Monday through Wednesday. The Reds have Thursday off before returning home for a 6-game homestand with three games against Atlanta and three against Kansas City.
Pretty sure he is dealing with multiple injuries. Should be good for him.
Is this being reported somewhere or is this a situation where you are making it up because he’s struggled?
He has at least one where he got he hit with a come backer the other day.
Jim Day said he was struggling with multiple injuries on the Pre-game Broadcast today.
He had a finger blister mid May and also got hit with a 107 mph line drive May 12 against the Nationals in the leg and had to leave the game an inning later.
Thanks Don.
Agreed, but also feel ABS has significantly impacted pitchers like Singer who live on the corners. Strike zone has shrunken as a result. Razor thin margin for error if you are not a power arm
That is a good point.
It is a good point, and it may become a bigger factor with the passage of time: my understanding is that many pitchers aren’t trying to throw strikes so much as pitches that look like strikes to the hitter and provoke him to swing. We see this frequently with sliders. If hitters, courtesy of ABS, lay off marginal pitches, the game and the art of pitching will change, and probably not for the better.
There are ABS stats on Savant. If I’ve filtered things correctly,
Singer has been challenged 9 times, the most of any Reds pitcher and the 12th most in the league. He’s lost 4.
Other league pitcher with 9 challenges against them have done worse.
Ranger Suarez has been challenged the most (14) and has lost only 3.
Interestingly, Abbot has been challenged only once, and won. Burns challenged 7 times and won 5.
Santillan has only been challenged twice, and won both.
On the flip side: Singer/catcher has only challenged 1 call and won,
Abbot/catcher has challenged 5 and won them all.
Very good point. I am not that knowledgeable and never thought of that
I wonder how Maddux and Glavonr would do with ABS
I would love to see how Greg Maddux would do with today’s game .
Did I state it as a fact? I used speculative wording.
He dealt with a blister at the end of spring and took a line drive off his leg a couple weeks ago. I certainly am not trying to defend Singer or excuse his poor performance. In fact, if the whole staff is healthy, I would not place him in the starting rotation.
It would just make sense that if he is dealing with some lingering injuries that they would take advantage of this postponed game to give him some rest.
All speculation on my part, assuredly.
Meant for Brian above.
Good decision, as DW mentioned, I wondered if nagging injuries have limited him a bit too.
Lodolo, Burns, Abbott for Mets series sounds great. Brewers and Cubs both lost, so Reds gain ground without taking the field.
Cubs have lost 8 in a row. And lost 12 of last 14 games. Yet season is over for the reds. According to some of the comments recently *Shrugs *
What does the Cubs losing streak have anything to do with the Reds’ fortunes?
It seems like you spend your time hunting around for red herrings to complain about.
From Pollyanna to Cassandra to Pollyanna to Cassandra to the Shrugging Cynic.
The Cubs are in the same division as the Reds, so they are direct competitors. Do you lie in wait for comments you can snipe at?
Do you feel better? Your insults only tell me who you are. Yet you continue and thats okay. I feel sorry for you.
It’s just an opinion about a game and team we all love. Insults are not necessary.
Cubs were on top a week or so ago. And now they are really struggling. Eight game losing streak is huge. And terrible. That should be inspiring to a competitive team who is behind in the same division, like the Reds currently are. The Reds’ fortunes could change quickly is what it means.
KH they really missed you on the Titantic.
Hey guys its not so bad. The band is good and I bet alot of you guys are really good swimmers
I prefer to be positive and do my best. Not always there,but I try. I am not naive and I see how the reds are playing, however it is May.
I am not sure why this seems to irritate people.
8th place out of 15 teams. Haven’t played 5 of the teams ahead of us and 2-10 in divisional play. Our closer is out atleast a month and 35 years old. Our 8th inning guy is throwing 93 mph batting practice.
Idk? Its not hopeless, but the writing is on the wall for anyone not camped out with Tattoo on Fantasy Island
As I say about things “it could be better but could be a hell of a lot worse”
Yes, it could be a hell of a lot worse after that 0-7 result against two NLC rivals the first week in May. The last time I checked the Reds still had a winning record. Take it a game at a time with all the daily ups and downs that go with a long season.
Optimists and pessimists, I love you all because I can lean either way! I admit to falling to the pessimistic side more often. Not winning a playoff series since 1995 is driving me crazy.
The difference Kevin is that the Cubs are 5-5 within the division, while the Reds are 2-10. StL is 7-4, Pit 11-8, and MIL is 5-3. That’s why it’s a bigger deal with the Reds than the Cubs. It’s the tiebreakers. The Reds are getting themselves in a position where they have to win the division to make the playoffs. It could happen but it doesn’t seem likely. Hence they need to turn it around and start beating teams within the division. Still time, I think they have 40:division games remaining. But not that much time.
Thank you. The voice of reason.
Well, at least it’s not the voice of treason! LDS is not starting to root for the Cubs, Cardinals or Brewers! 🙂
Okay, that is just a little play on words.
It’s a long season. The Reds had a really good first “month”, and have had a really bad second month, and if you look at the numbers, the real problem has been pitching. Starting pitching and especially the bullpen have had a BIG regression.
I think that the starting pitching will get better by the end of June, with the return of Hunter Greene and probably Rhett Lowder, too. I am less optimistic about the bullpen getting turned around, unless these guys get LESS work, and the starters start finishing 7 innings just about every start. And yeah, scoring more runs would help a lot too.
You assume other teams will keep winning and other teams wont have injuries, and or collapse. See tigers and Mets from last year. My comment about the cubs was to show teams who were on top of the world according to some falter.
Indeed Kevin, they do. But, at the end of the day, if a team isn’t going to win the division outright, and instead gamble on making the expanded playoffs, intra-division record matters a bunch. And it’s clear that Krall and company, despite a couple of generational players, had no intention of trying to win it outright. This is the peaks and valleys strategy, aka mediocrity in action.
Every team is sorting right now.Sorting as to what is holding them back from being better.Reds issues are obvious.The offense must improve and it will once the Reds make roster changes so that they don’t have 3 or 4 players each night that aren’t hitting and haven’t hit and won’t hit if you believe the data.Short term long term by season by career they have 4 players that have not hit.They had 5 with Hayes now 4 and one is the catcher.You can maybe hide a couple so pick one more out of the other 3 and move on from the 2 thats left.Two starters down and the pen lately has been awful.When Greene and Lowder join Nick AA and Burns you will not have to cover 4 or 5 innings out of the pen every night.All are very capable of going 6+ every time out.Singer Paddack and Petty are not and will not on most starts and it eats up the pen in innings and fatigue. One of those and it probably Singer can be the long man and maybe Petty and his stuff minus the walks could help in the pen.
If they bit the bullet and got rid of KBH & Benson and added Marte & Arroyo. DFA Friedl too or bring him off the bench. Steer replaces Matty at 2B if he can’t atleast handle batting 9th. You could see some scenarios where the offense was atleast middle of the pack.
The starters would still have to carry the team with HG coming back and winning 70% of the time or more when Burns & Abbott pitch. I think you’re right about the pen. They’re solid veterans for the most part when not being overworked. Idk?
Baseball reference has the Reds odds for the playoffs at 5.5%. I saw 9% somewhere else yesterday before the double-header. Its probably pretty close
Just an item a few might find interesting. Our old friend Nick Senzel is now playing for the Lexington Legends and is a Free Agent. He just could never put it together on the MLB level. He is only 30. You know he plays 3B and the Reds got rid of him because they had a glut of infielders and he did not hit that well. The Reds had Jonathan India, Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Noelvi Marte all competing for time. Since then CES is gone. Marte in the minors, India traded. They did add Hayes. Hayes in only one year younger than Senzel but Nick, as weak as his bat was, was a much better hitter than Hayes. I am not advocating bringing back Senzel, just wondering if the rationale for dumping Senzel would apply to Hayes? Of the two I think I would rather have Senzel playing.
If Singer is the 5th starter the Reds are serious a playoff team with pitching to take them past the first round. As it happened, Singer became the 3rd man in the rotation, and as such the Reds are barely a .500 team. Even nagging injuries are enough to throw off a 5th starter, so his performance shows the effects. They’re likely “minor” injuries not requiring even the shortest IL time, but skipping a start is an excellent move here, especially if Lowder and Greene are close to getting slots.
The bullpen is a bigger issue, and they still need a hitting OFer.
@ Optimist…
A rotation of Burns, Lodolo, Abbott, Lowder and Greene would be better.
The bullpen has been overworked, because the Starters have not gotten into the 7th inning very often, and the bullpen has been overworked and over – exposed. I don’t know how this is going to change….unless the starters carry more innings load.
And getting a good hitting outfielder….Noelvi Marte? And either option Benson down or DFA him. I only wish they had given Rece Hinds half the opportunities given to Will Benson. And I have no idea what is wrong with Friedl.
I think Benson is not bad as the 5th outfielder. Hinds couldn’t be effective in a bench/limited role like that. Benson does still draw walks occasionally, draws out some at-bats, and seems to play solid defense. I understand people think he should be let go, and can make a case for it, but if he’s the 5th outfielder I think he’s ok in that role.
That’s a fine rotation but past performance indicates it won’t remain intact – someone will miss some time on the IL, however short. Singer is fine as the 5th starter, though Petty is very close.
As for the OFer, they will get a rental at the deadline, and likely better than Andujar. I haven’t looked at this season’s list, and Andujar was fine, but I think they’ll do better this season though it may cost a bit more.
I think I am very close to the same view. I actually like a healthy Singer as a #5 starter. Healthy being the Operative word. Certainly over Paddack, Petty, and Williamson in 2026. The other thing to weave in here is Innings limits. Doesn’t apply to Abbott, Greene, and Lodolo but does apply to Burns and Lowder to some degree. Neither may make it into September.
Skipping a Singer start because of minor ailments sounds smart to me. That said, pitching Petty and Paddack against the Cards AFTER 2 days off sounds not so smart to me. Your 2 worst pitchers in a highly critical series? Then have your 3 best pitchers against one of the worst teams in the league? As of today, you are competing against the Cards, Cubs, and Pirates for a playoff spot. These games count double. Maybe even more considering the possibility of tiebreakers. Right now we are 1-10 against our direct competition. Have to get back to 500 ish and Petty and Paddack don’t seem like the right approach especially after 2 days off.
This team to me seems to walking the tightrope. I don’t see any commitment to winning especially if it involves spending over prospects and 2027. Almost like let’s get to July and see where we are at. And if we are 500 ish, with no improvement in May or June, are we going to bring in 260 hitting OFs, Cs, and 2Bs? Nah, the tightrope walk says we trade Singer, Myers, Bleday, Lowe, and Pagan for 2027 prospects. And roll on with the reduced payroll into 2027. Basically, the only prospects we have traded are Callihan, CES, and Hinds and they were all known underperformers who we got zilch in return. How about improving C and CF on the current team and trading who have to trade to make it happen? Arroyo doesn’t have a position and could bring a strong return. How about Stewart for a similar young star who plays CF? Chorio might be an example. Or the Orioles C Ruetsman? Nah, let the Pirates get him. Improve the current team and not the 2028 team.
Trade Arroyo because he has no position and…………trade Stewart. You have to be joking, right?
Yes, I think trading Arroyo makes the Reds a better 2026 team than playing him at 2B for the rest of the year. I am assuming he will be no better than an average level IF in 2026. A probable upgrade over 200 hitting MM but not enough for us to finish 87-88 games. I do not think he will perform as well as other NL Central 2B like Trang or Hoerner or even the Cards rookie.
What is your view? That he will be comparable to Hoerner or Turang and help get the Reds to 15 games over 500? OK, we see it differently.
Additionally, I don’t think we can win 88 games with our starting C hitting 175 with 7 rbis. On top of our starting 3B hitting 130 and our starting CF hitting 180. We imo need to seriously address and improve at least 1, and probably 2, of our weak hitting positions of 2B, CF, and C. Seriously means exactly that. A 260 hitting, 20 HR guy. Not a cat at Louisville who may or may not be a strong hitter in 2026. I suggested what I think the Reds need to do to get to 88 wins.
If I thought trading Hayes or Bleday or Benson or all of them, would get what the Reds need, then I would say go for it. But as I said, get a real C like Adley R, or Yandy Diaz, and figure out what it would take to get them. With or without Arroyo, this team is not going to win 88 games imo. We can get a real CF, and/or real C, in here and give ourselves a shot at 88 wins. But we are going to have to part with a similar value young star or prospect. Burns, Greene, Lowder, Arroyo, Stewart, Marte, Duno, or a couple of the above. Or we can pretend MM, TS, TJF are going to become 275 20 HR guys in the next 4 months. Imo, that will only lead to rinse and repeat in 2027. We have seen what waiting on young hot shots like Callihan, Hinds, and CES get you. Nothing. I am not saying Arroyo won’t be a good player. I am saying I think he has some pretty strong trade value at this point in time.
I think there are 2 teams that have almost no chance of turning it around and are pretty much completely out of the race for making a run to the playoffs. Colorado and the Los Angeles Angels… Then I think there’s about 4-5 teams close to where there season is on the verge of being done in a sense that they aren’t going to compete. Not quite sure who those teams are but cases could be made for the Orioles, Giants, Mets, even Tigers and Royals. It doesn’t feel like it’s the Red Sox year to really compete overall, just too much going on there I think to turn it around. But still a lot of teams could convince themselves they can turn it around.
The Reds numbers aren’t promising as far as ERA, run differential, 4-5 regulars in the lineup many nights having really bad Offensive seasons, etc. But I still think if Lodolo, Singer turn it around, and Burns and Abbott stay pretty good, De La Cruz having a great year, maybe Stewart gets really hot again, Lowe keeps hitting at a steady rate, bullpen turns it around a bit…I think they can stay around .500 which is kind of all you need to do and then have a run or two and get to 85-87 wins and you can get one of those last Wild Cards.
Maybe they can trade for Luis Arraez, or see if the Giants take 50-60 million off Wily Adames contract and bring him in as a long term answer at 3B or 2B. I know that’s a bit of a crazy idea for Adames.
Maybe they can trade for Luis Arraez, or see if the Giants take 50-60 million off Wily Adames contract and bring him in as a long term answer at 3B or 2B. I know that’s a bit of a crazy idea for Adames.
I’d rather see what Arroyo can do first.
I Arroyo highest value in 2026 is as a trade piece. He should bring a strong return either in a catcher or CF that would help the team Now ….and not 2027 or 2028.
The Reds have plenty of 3B guys including 3 we have added in the last months. Hayes, Stewart, and Suarez. Each of these could have brought alternative adds with a little thinking outside the box. Instead, we have a $35M defensive 3B, a $15M 40 HR DH, and a rookie 1B/DH. And a GM who thumped his chest about how brilliant the Hayes add was in the playoff chase. Now we are talking force fitting Arroyo into 3B? Come on. Enough is enough. Get a C or CF in here who can hit 260 with 20HRs. Trade whoever you need to trade to make it happen.
NO team is trading a catcher who can hit .260 with 20 home runs. They don’t grow on trees.
I count at least 10 currently growing on trees including young guys on the Marlins, Rockies, Tigers, Braves, As, and Dodgers. Some being 25-30 HR guys. Also, a couple older guys like Contreas from the Red Sox……who I would think would be very available for a high ranking prospect. My very point. They are out there but you are not going to get them for your so so guys. Pay the price. Improve the team.
List please.
Tom, here is a list:
Qualifiers
Rushing – LAD
Basilio – BAL
Hicks – MIA
Rutschman – BAL
Jeffers – MIN
Langeliers – ATH
Baldwin – ATL
Close calls:
Goodman – COL – 246 but 35 HR pace
Dingler – DET – 231 but 30 HR pace
Contreas – MIL – 12 HR pace but 304
Not This Year But:
Smith – LAD – off year
Raleigh – SEA – really bad year
Perez – getting old
My count was technically incorrect. 7 vs 10. But including the “Close Calls” certainly meet the intent of what I was attempting to say. That is there are 10 Catchers who can really bang and even 3 more who have done it previously. IMO. any of the 10-12 would significantly improve our offense.
And I would think that there probably is 3-4 who can probably be had via the right bait. The Colorado guy, the Miami guy. either of the Baltimore guys, and one of the Dodger guys. The latter is pure speculation on my part based on team’s rebuilding position and duplication. I would say include Stephenson in the package with Arroyo but Stephenson adds little or nothing to the package being his last arbitration year. The point remains that IMO Goodman, Rutschman, Hicks, or Rushing would bring more to this year’s team than Arroyo. And maybe it would take more than Arroyo but that is not the debate. Lets target the guy(s) and try to meet the price. Not pretend Arroyo is the secret ingredient to 88 wins.
Much has been made of the offense and struggles of Friedl/Benson/Hayes/McLain and catchers. However, with Bleday and Lowe joining Elly and Sal and Steer , the offense over the last month has been good, bordering on great.
For the month of May the Reds are 2nd in MLB behind the Yankees in OPS at .741 and 3rd in home runs with 35 and 6th in runs scored.
With Geno coming back and corner IF/DH strong and Bleday and Elly and Steer, Reds have a path in June to continue to score runs.
They may need to win games 7-5 because it’s all about the pitching and Reds hadn’t won a game not started by Abbott or Burns since April 25 until the other day. They were 0-13 when other starters pitched and 8-2 when AA or CB started.
Reds need to find a way to win games in June until Greene gets back and figure the bullpen out to stay within striking distance the 2nd half. Relievers and bench bats will be available on the trade market in 6 weeks but reds pitching has to survive until then.
Good points and the data is what it is.Just can’t start 3 or 4 players very game that can’t hit.Soon if not already the pitcher will look over in the on deck circle in key moments of the game.Thought it was interesting when they brought in a lefty with Benson the catcher and Friedl due up in the 6th in game 2 the other day.Now we know Steer and Myers are going to hit and we know regardless of who is pitching they are better then Benson and Friedl at the plate.Big advantage Reds and 3 batters later the Reds have run number 6 which was huge.Steer/Myers were involved again along with Dunn on defense and offense to get the walk off win later in the game.
Santillan seems to have lost velocity and in his attempt to regain it has started to overthrow with result of more walks. He certainly cannot be relied on in high leverage spots. Hopefully Pagan can return in June . Greene and Lowery as well.
Singer should be traded if there are any takers. The July rotation should be Lowry, Greene, Burns , Lodolo, and Abbott. If not Lowry then Petty.
So many managers. So many general managers.
Who is Lowry?
Yeah, someone who doesn’t know the names of our pitchers probably shouldn’t be setting our rotation.
I suspect Lowder was the intended name in place of Lowry.
Probably another case of “autocorrect” run amok. Sometimes it seems to be determined to have its way even when we think it has been overruled.
Exactly, Jim. It has gotten me many times.
Me two (and let’s see how mine handles that homonym) 😉
Autocarrot is the worst.
Ha ha, Doug!
Singer might be hurt, but thats on him. When you give up 2-3 shots 105+ per inning then one of them might hit you. He stinks. Now he was surprisingly serviceable last year, but 2023 went like this: 5.52, 159 ip 182 hits. He’s not good. Try Lowder or Petty if at all possible. Someone else mentioned ABS too as a big factor with these marginal guys. Thats most likely the case. Marginal guys forced to throw it over the plate and they get hit. Case solved
See stats referenced above. But hard to measure the mental impact of ABS.
If I remember correctly, early last year the offense gave Singer some huge early inning offense. He’s certainly not getting that this year.
Singer frequently matched up with #2 starters, this year.
Extra rest can’t hurt Singer at all.He is the #5 starter and all we need from him is to keep us in the game and go 5+innings.He hasn’t done that consistently but rather the wheels fall off and well the pen gets worn out and the game is over early.Once everybody is healthy he could become long man ot a mop up guy way ahead or way behind.He has value but not pitching the way he is pitching.I know nothing about the new pitch challenge rule at all.I am sure smart folks are studying it and entering data to publish for hitters and batters to study.I read a couple of times about Friedl and his crouching or not to crouch at the plate and my simple mind says just do what you have done for the last 5 years.Walks used to be big part of his game and have kept him in the lead off spot but now he never walks so what’s going on.Surely he never thought he was getting all the calls and now he will get none.Puzzling to me.
To anyone who wants to wave bye-bye to Singer and replace him with Lowder (or Lowry, or Loudon, or any number of variations people have used here for Rhett Lowder’s name): Keep in mind RL has started a grand total of 14 games in his MLB career and has continually had elbow and shoulder issues. Not exactly a horse you can lock into the rotation long-term.
Agreed. If Williamson, Lowder, and Greene were out there throwing with little probability of another ailment, i think we could look at moving on from Singer. Or if even 2 of the 3 wrre throwing. But that is not the case. We are down to our 10th and 11th options in Petty and Paddack and we know Petty career ERA is like 10 and Paddack was a waiver wire pickup bypassed by teams like Rockies, Mets, Giants, Nats, and Phils. Not exactly very valued. We are hurting for innings and you dont kick a guy to the curb who has a resume of an annual 170 innings and 5th starter ERA.