The Phillies announced this afternoon they’ve selected infielder Scott Kingery back onto the major league roster. Utilityman Johan Camargo has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 6, due to a right knee strain in a corresponding move. Philadelphia already had an opening on the 40-man roster.
Kingery returns to the majors for the first time since being outrighted off the 40-man last June. The designation for assignment and subsequent outright was the culmination of a few seasons of struggles. Kingery hit at a league average level (.258/.315/.474) during the offensively-charged 2019 campaign, but he’s otherwise struggled mightily at the plate as a big leaguer. He’d posted well below-average numbers as a rookie in 2018, and he’s hit .144/.204/.250 in 143 trips to the plate since his sophomore campaign.
That’s certainly not how the Phillies had envisioned his career progressing. A former second-round pick, Kingery tore through the minor leagues over his first couple seasons of pro ball. Baseball America ranked the University of Arizona product as the game’s #31 prospect in advance of his rookie year, and the Philadelphia front office signed him to a six-year, $24MM guarantee a couple weeks before his major league debut. That investment hasn’t panned out as hoped, but the 28-year-old will get another opportunity to try to solve big league arms.
Kingery, who is making $6.25MM this season under the terms of the aforementioned extension, has gotten off to a rough start with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Through 16 games, he’s hitting .185/.297/.296 while striking out in 34.4% of his plate appearances. That kind of swing-and-miss has been an unexpected issue for Kingery since 2018, as he’s never developed into the potential plus hitter some prospect evaluators anticipated. He’ll step into a second base mix that lost Jean Segura for a few months to finger surgery and has seen Nick Maton and Camargo hit the IL in recent days.
Camargo, signed to a one-year deal over the winter, has seen more playing time than envisioned because of Segura’s injury and Bryson Stott’s struggles. He got off to a nice start but had slumped of late, and he lands on the IL owner of a modest .246/.310/.338 line. Stott and Didi Gregorius figure to assume the bulk of the playing time up the middle, with Kingery on hand as a depth option.
Here we go again…
One last stand before they release him, I’d imagine
I think Kingery just needs a change of scenery. I had high hopes for him when I saw him play agaisnt the Mets. I don’t know what happened to his bat but I think another team can fix him
Maybe, but he’s been awful under different coaches and amongst different minor league teams. He just lost it.
He’s just not good. At 28 he’s no longer a prospect and he’s had plenty of chances. He doesn’t need a change of scenery, he needs to be an entirely different player (not possible). He’s a bust. Not that uncommon really.
Phillies just need a change of Kingery
Not being on the 40 man roster should have left him in an available position for “another team” – apparent lack of any interest is a tell
Should have called up yairo Munoz.
I hope he’s ready. Seemed like a Mark Loretta type of hitter coming out of college, then he developed the uppercut launch angle approach that has sabotaged his hitting ability. I guess, for the Phillies, if they have to DFA him again, he’ll just end up back in AAA, unless they just decide to eat his contract. No one else will claim him and honor that contract, and he cannot walk away from the guaranteed money that he will not be able to remake somewhere else. Also, I hope he only plays 2B this time around, no more utility role. Let guys play their natural position whenever possible…
hen he developed the uppercut launch angle approach that has sabotaged his hitting ability.
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IMHO, they promoted him too soon. He had a 58/13 K/W in AAA. That’s not major league-worthy. But since he was under contract (my guess), they wanted to make the most of it. He needed another year in AAA at that time.
Joe
They moved him around way too much.
They messed with his swing while he had been successful
They wanted him to be a home run hitter
They gave him way too much money way too soon
They did not let him progress in the minor leagues,specifically AAA
Attribute it to the McFail/Klentac regime
How not to run a mlb club
Believe he hadn’t developed an uppercut swing, but was instructed by coaches to maintain that approach – difficult to make a slight bodied gap hitter into Babe Ruth. Couple that with being thrown all over the diamond and bring yo-yoed between Philly and Lehigh Valley and you’ve set him up for failure.
Ricky Romero the position player.
I think that was Jon Singleton. Or Jose Tabata. Or Evan White soon.
Singleton is currently playing for AAA Nashville Sounds (Brewers). Stat lines looks like a bunch of current big leaguers: sub-.200 BA, good amount of HR and walks, and a ton of K’s. Saw him play against Durham on Memorial Day and was surprised at how nimble he still is around the bag for a big guy. Don’t know if he’ll ever make it back to MLB (doubt it), but I was truly surprised how fit and nimble he is at his age and size, plus all the time off…
When this fails they should send his buddy Hoskins out with him.
Man, Hoskins looked like he was gonna be a superstar that half rookie season he had. Never really lived up to it and now he looks about done.
Every year he likes ice cold then gets red hot. Finishes the year with impressive enough numbers. It’s June so I expect the bats to wake up. Can’t fix that awful defense though.
That’s the issue he shows flashes but he’s a defensive liability they just keep hoping the absolutely mashing hot streaks last longer n longer. Let him walk, see what we have in Hall
Darick Hall is not a prospect. He’ll be 27 near the end of July. If he has any success in MLB, it’ll be short-lived, like Tommy Joseph…
One of way too many DH’s on the Phillies
Hall may give them the shot of adrenaline they need at the first base position kind of like that guy they have now when he came up. Hoskins turned into a dumpster fire who is really good at making up high fives and being a really good cheerleader in the dugout. Hall may come up and be the Gary Cooper type and get this team going
Hall is not the savior. These guys come up and do nothing. Moniak. Stott. It’s one thing to hit minor league pitching. Majors is another story. You ride Hoskins out this year. He’ll get hot. He always does. But then, you move on next season and improve the defense.
Neither is Rhys and how many more meaningful at bats or even plays at first can he get
Hoskins has proven to be a valuable asset with the bat. Phillies are still fighting for a WC. You need Hoskins’ bat to get that. I’m not a huge fan, and I’m ready to move on nect season, but right now he’s the best option.
Hes batting .185 against AAA pitching. I mean what’s the point?
Maton and Carmago are both on the IL. Stott and Didi are going to start, but the Phillies need Kingery as a backup in case someone goes down.
There wasn’t anyone available on the waiver wire? I mean this is temporary, but surely they could have signed someone off the street who could give them as much offensively without the 40-man complications. Kingery needs to stay in the minors until he’s at least hitting in the .270s
As does Rhys Hoskins
An algorithm in a computer decided he was good before he proved a thing, but he had the good sense to take the pile of money being shoved in front of him.
Kingery hit around .450 in spring training in 2018. That is why Klentak gave him the 6 year contract. I’m not defending it, just giving the reason for the contract, and promotion to the “big club” in 2018.
Kingery got a private hitting guru who ruined him. That guy is named Richard and he isn’t even really a baseball guy but a 60 year old pool hall owner who got famous on the internet for insulting every coach. He started out at online forums 15 plus years ago and got banned of each of them for insulting everyone and their kids.
He teaches a very steep ferris wheel like uppercut swing, that dude actually also coached aaron judge and that worked very well but most other guys who worked with him developed huge K issues. Phillies hitting coordinator jason ochart (who often got harressed online by coach Richard who claims to be the only one who knows the high level swing secret sauce) tried to fix Kingery but with limited success.
This is the type of uninformed garbage that gets spewed around by “no nothings”. kingery was just an “ok” player in the minor leagues before he starting working with rich the same year Judge started working with him. He went crazy in the minors after meeting Rich, went crazy in spring training twice which led to his contract. He got to the big leaugues and did very well. In 2019 he hit .260 with 19HR while having to play all over the place. Then he tore his shoulder in 2020 and the Phillies wouldn’t address it. Got so bad in 2021 that he had to have major surgery to fix it. Yea but it’s ALL Rich his hitting guys fault. Yer a total idiot.
Ochart said himself that coach richard ruined kingery and that the phillies basically prohibited other players to work with him.
Ochart is a pretty good coach
I have honestly heard that his development was stunted if you will buy the Phillies moving him all around the field. Is there any truth to that?
Richard Schenck.
Kapler and his batting coach broke him.
Or he just isn’t that good. Prospects fail all the time, it doesn’t mean anyone broke them.
Money changed his career progression. He got paid early and stopped working to improve.
You know this how?