Over a disconcerting and disorienting 24 hours, the Royals had dismissed Terry Bradshaw from his role as hitting coach (inconveniently after they’d amassed 26 runs in three games at Colorado) only to muster three runs in their next two games and sag to 12-22.
In the second of those, a 3-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals struck out a season-high 14 times and were zero for 12 with runners in scoring position — jarring failures in the very areas of emphasis turning Bradshaw’s job over to Alec Zumwalt was intended to address.
Never mind that of course it will take some time for that change in voice and approach to resonate and that the shift from Bradshaw had been a more cumulative matter.
From the wretched overall start to a season that promised something more within a languishing rebuild, the heaviness of the shakeup hovering and the fact that star catcher Sal Perez had left that game with a left thumb sprain that put him on the 10-day injured list, fans were rightly desperate for a sign, any sign, of brighter days ahead.
By Tuesday night, they could at least pause at an oasis that we can all hope is a glimpse of the future ahead and not ultimately a mirage. Because of how the 2-1 win over the White Sox was fashioned: largely around the exhilarating start of Brady Singer, who has had a fickle few years since being made the franchise’s top draft pick in 2018, and the marathon work of catcher MJ Melendez, named the No. 42 overall prospect in the minors after hitting 41 home runs last year.
“For both of them, that was a really special day,” manager Mike Matheny said.
And thus for the Royals, too, at least as a much-needed hopeful harbinger of progress to be made this season and beyond at a time the club is dependent on fledgling talents (most notably Bobby Witt Jr.) to come of age.
There have been too few of these sorts of moments, to be sure, and it’s only reasonable to wonder if it will be fleeting for either or both as they navigate the months to come.
Just the same, the word of the day was “changeup” in more ways than one, and who’s to say what might make for some key turning points until you have the benefit of hindsight?
We’re just seeing the first burst for Melendez, but his profile suggests abundant promise.
And for Singer, who had been demoted to the minor leagues and was making his first start of the season for the Royals, this came with a vibe of renewal and fresh traction.
Singer had been added to the roster as the 27th man for the doubleheader. So as a point of procedure, including the need for other pitchers during a heavy stretch of games when he won’t be able to pitch for several days anyway, he was optioned back to Class AAA Omaha after the game. But his next outing is virtually certain to be with the parent club.
“This could be one of those days,” Matheny said, “that just changes his career.”
It might be easy to shrug that off as hyperbole. But Matheny’s gushing about Singer (including saying he “looked like a completely different pitcher”) was rooted in a fact: his deft use and execution of a changeup that gave him a pivotal third pitch.
On Tuesday, he threw 16, inducing either a called strike or a swing-and-miss on nine … and thus making his other pitches more effective in the process.
Indicative of the widely understood notion that he would need that in his arsenal to become a complete pitcher, someone in the clubhouse (no names but … probably Whit Merrifield) jammed a copy of Baseball America with a cover theme of “Changeup!” over the nameplate of his locker.
Singer playfully pulled it down after he spoke to the media and handed it off to a reporter. Still, the urgency of that theme will hover after what he achieved Tuesday: seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and no walks punctuated by a career-high nine strikeouts and the welcome addition to his repertoire.
It also seems to demonstrate something else about Singer: maturation.
“Sometimes people get mad when they get sent down to Triple-A,” Perez said. “Some people take advantage of that: ‘Let me work on something. Let me get better, and I know I can be in (the) big leagues for a long time …’
“And look what happened tonight.”
Perez was equally enthused as he spoke about his protege and heir apparent one day.
As he became the first Royals player since 1995 to catch both games of a doubleheader, Melendez hit his first career home run to give the Royals a 2-0 lead. He also made a stellar, gritty defensive play when he tagged out Chicago’s Josh Harrison with a would-be game-tying run, holding on to Andrew Benintendi’s throw for the tag even as his mask flew off from the contact.
Beyond their individual performances, Singer and Melendez, who have operated as a battery before in the minor leagues, also seemed to enjoy a certain chemistry together.
So there’s something there to take heart in and start to believe in here in a couple of the sorts of pieces that need to flourish if there’s a groundswell to come.
The Royals still have much to solve, of course. Even in the win Tuesday, they struck out 10 times, and they remain the lowest-scoring team in baseball and retain the highest ERA in the American League.
Still, some of Matheny’s words about Singer might be applied just as broadly:
“You’ve got to walk before you take off running,” he said, smiling and adding, “Today was a good-paced jog.”
