Royals select pitcher Brady Singer in First Round of First-Year Player Draft

The Kansas City Royals have selected Brady Singer, a right-handed pitcher from the University of Florida, with their top selection in the First-Year Player Draft, 18th overall in the first round.
Singer, 21, a 6-foot-5, 180-pounder, went 11-1 with a 2.27 ERA (24 ER in 95.0 IP) and 98 strikeouts in 14 starts as a junior this season. He recorded at least 7.0 innings in 11 of 14 starts, including his first career shutout on May 4 at Texas A&M. He was the No. 2 ranked prospect in the Draft, according to MLB.com, and No. 4 according to Baseball America.
Singer was named the 2018 SEC Pitcher of the Year and led the SEC in wins and ERA, while ranking second in opponents' average. Following the 2017 season, he was named to the 2017 All-SEC Second Team, the 2017 College World Series All-Tournament Team and the 2017 SEC Academic Honor Roll. He struck out 12 LSU batters in Game 1 of the College World Series Finals last year, the most strikeouts by any pitcher in a College World Series Finals game since the event moved to a best-of-three series in 2003. Singer's 12 strikeouts also set a Florida school record for most strikeouts in any College World Series game.
In three seasons with the Gators, he was 22-8 with a 3.16 ERA (93 ER, 264.2 IP) with four complete games and 265 strikeouts in 57 games, including 34 starts.
Singer was selected by Toronto in the second round (56th overall) of the 2015 Draft, out of Eustis High School (Fla.), but did not sign.
He joins Willie Wilson (1974) and Jamie Quirk (1972), among others, as players to be selected 18th overall by the Royals. Notable Major League players recently selected 18th overall include Corey Seager (Los Angeles Dodgers, 2012) and Sonny Gray (Oakland Athletics, 2011).
The Royals have four picks remaining tonight: Nos. 33, 34, 40 and 58 overall.