Tuesday, November 6, 2018 | Baseball, Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — OK, so the resume on Brady Singer'sFloridaGators.com bio states the former Florida pitcher had "perhaps the most decorated season" of any player in team history during 2018. The accolades are listed like so:
Brady Singer* 2018 Dick Howser Trophy Recipient * 2018 National Player of the Year (Baseball America, D1baseball.com) * 2018 First Team All-American * 2018 SEC Pitcher of the Year * 2018 Golden Spikes Award Finalist * 2018 NCBWA District 3 Player of the Year * 2018 ABCA National Pitcher of the Year * 2018 ABCA South Region First Team * 2018 All-SEC First Team
Impressive, but as it was pointed out to Singer it's about to include a 2018 honorary "Mr. Two Bits" cameo come Saturday's football game against South Carolina at the "Swamp."
"OK, put it on there then," Singer said.
It's only been five months since Singer, the 6-foot-5 right-hander from Eustis, Fla., put the finishing on his stellar UF career that included a one-for-the-ages junior season — a 12-3 record to go with a 2.55 ERA and 114 strikeouts versus just 22 walks — that ended in the College World Series, but an argument can certainly be made that career was highlighted by a breakout sophomore year that ended with a national championships.
Singer made two mound appearances in Omaha, Neb., in 2017, defeating both Louisville in the elimination bracket and LSU in Game 1 of the best-of-three CWS title round, combining to throw 15 innings and surrender just four runs on nine hits while fanning 21 and walking only three.
In June, Singer was selected by the Kansas City Royals with the 18th overall pick of the Major League Baseball draft. He spent the summer bouncing around to various organizational sites, meeting pitching coaches, getting tips, learning the lay of the Royals (and professional) land and resting his arm after a full collegiate season. It's the same strategy employed a year ago by former teammate and superstar Alex Faedo after his first-round selection by Detroit, with the goal of reporting to 2019 spring training fresh, but also knowing what to expect.
"I'm just ready to play," said Singer, who over the weekend moved to Tampa to train during the winter alongside former UF teammate Jackson Kowar, also drafted by the Royals. "My main goal is to be rested and ready and at my best when I get there. I don't care where I go — [Class] low-A or high-A — because you have to start somewhere. My goal is to play in the big leagues and have the longest career I can possibly have."
Brady Singer is all smiles at his Welcome-to-Kansas City news conference last summer.
But first, he'll make a dramatic exit from UF by making a spectacle of himself in the pregame run-up to the Gators' date against the Gamecocks.
Singer is excited, he said, "to dance around a little bit."
He should be. Since the Two Bits-by-invitation tradition became in 2013, Singer, at 22, will be the second-youngest former student-athlete to take his turn in the yellow shirt and khaki pants. Faedo was just 20 last fall when he danced around before the 2017 LSU game.
"I'll probably look the youngest," Singer said. "Honestly, I was skeptical about it, at first. It's not the kind of thing I'm used to doing, even though I'm used to throwing the ball around in front a bunch of people. But they asked and I knew how much of an honor it is, with the people who have done so much for the university and all the great athletes who have done it. I'm shocked to be part of that group already. I couldn't turn it down."
