Mike Matheny Speaks on Singer’s Start, Witt Jr.’s Home Run

Despite the loss, Matheny was positive about two of his young players' performances.

The Kansas City Royals came back home to Kauffman Stadium looking for a win in the opening game of their series against the Houston Astros. It was pretty obvious early on that this outcome simply wasn't going to be in the cards.

In Kansas City's 10-3 loss, Houston jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings. In the fourth, they added another run. One frame later, the Astros struck for four more. Starting pitcher Brady Singer lasted all five of those innings and didn't issue a single walk compared to four strikeouts, but he gave up eight hits and a trio of home runs in the process. 

Singer's season ERA ballooned from below 2.50 to above 4.00 as a result, although his average is a still-respectable 4.15 following such a poor outing. Royals manager Mike Matheny doesn't think Singer played that poorly, however, and he spoke about the quality of his young starter's stuff on Friday night.

"Brady's stuff was actually really good today," Matheny told the media after Friday's game. "I know that number in the line doesn't look at it, but he had everything he needed. He made a middle-middle mistake to Diaz early but the other two home runs, they ended up being two-run homers, but they were pretty good pitches. 

"He had good life, he had the swing-and-miss slider, his changeup was good. Anything he got just anywhere near the plate, they found a barrel... those are hard to overcome, but his stuff was right today. It's just a shame." 

Singer, who has been working on fine-tuning a changeup, threw seven of them against the Astros. Of them, two were called strikes. The rest of Singer's offerings were sinkers (45 out of 72) or sliders (20 out of 72). All three of Houston's home runs came off of the sinker, as one was right over the middle of the plate and the other two caught a bit too much of it despite being reasonably close to the edge. Singer didn't make many mistakes, but the ones he did make ended up costing him big-time.

It was all bad news for the Royals' bats — aside from the bottom of the sixth inning, at least. With Astros starter Jose Urquidy still on the mound, rookie shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. crushed a no-doubt home run that drove in three total runs and carried an exit velocity of 109.8 mph. Witt's jack went 443 feet, which was the longest-hit ball of the night. Matheny touched on his young stud infielder's ability to drive the ball when he gets ahold of it.

"It wasn't like he was falling down trying to get extra carry," Matheny said. "The ball jumps off his bat... When he finds barrel, it's just different how the ball carries for him." 

Heading into Friday, Witt was 0 for his last 16 with a walk. After clobbering a home run at home, though, he'll look to snap out of his mini-slump. On the year, the rookie is slashing .227/.269/.443 with a wRC+ of 101. It hasn't been the easiest of goings for a player many picked to win the American League Rookie of the Year award, as Witt has been streaky in 2022. He's still one of the club's best producers at the plate, though.

Both Witt and Singer project to be key pieces for the future of the Royals. Neither of them was perfect on Friday, yet both managed to remind Matheny of why they're so highly regarded within the organization. Whether it be Singer's promising stuff or Witt's power display, both players have things to build on. That, in the face of defeat, is something worth talking about.