Singer was not happy with his start against the Pirates.
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Brady Singer was straightforward after Thursday night's loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He lasted just 3⅓ innings, gave up four runs in a 9-1 blowout at PNC Park, and did not try to sugarcoat any of it afterward.
"I didn't execute many good pitches, left a lot in the middle and they did damage to it," Singer said.
A Familiar Problem
Singer came into Thursday on a roll.
He was 4-0 with a 3.62 ERA through six starts, quietly one of the more dependable arms in the Reds rotation.
Then the Pirates got to him early, jumping on pitches that sat right over the plate, and he could not recover.
"I feel like it's kind of been a trend all season, trying to finish the inning," Singer said. "The whole thing was frustrating, but it was obviously more frustrating to be unable to finish those innings."
That part is worth paying attention to.
Singer is not just talking about one bad game here. He is saying he has felt this creeping in for weeks, where he works deep into innings but cannot close them out.
Even during some of his stronger outings this year, he ran up pitch counts and got pulled earlier than he should have.
Thursday was just the night it all blew up on him.
What It Means for Cincinnati
The loss dropped the Reds to 20-12, and they are still in solid shape in the National League Central.
Cincinnati has gotten by this season on a hot offense and a lights-out bullpen, but the rotation is where the worry sits.
Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo are both sidelined with injuries, and the Reds are depending on Singer to eat innings while those two work toward coming back.
Singer signed a one-year, $12.75 million deal with Cincinnati after a solid 2025 where he went 14-12 with a 4.03 ERA across 32 starts.
The whole idea was that he would hold things down as a reliable rotation piece until Greene and Lodolo returned.
He has done that more often than not, but nights like Thursday leave a mark.
What Comes Next
Singer usually finds a way to compete even when his stuff is not all there.
His sinker keeps the ball on the ground, and he can get through five or six innings on feel alone most nights.
Thursday was different.
He was missing badly over the heart of the plate, and major league hitters do not let those pitches go.
Seven starts into the year, his ERA has crept toward 4.00.
The Reds cannot have him getting knocked out before the fourth inning too often, not with the rotation this short.
His honesty after Thursday says plenty about where his head is, and now it is about whether the results follow.