Kingery Struggling To Make It Back To Phillies

It looked as if Scott Kingery had a good chance at earning a spot on the Philadelphia Phillies’ 26-man roster coming out of spring training.

Ultimately he was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to be able to play every day.

But during the IronPigs’ first home series, Kingery hit .111 with seven strikeouts in 21 plate appearances.

Not the start he wanted.

“He’s hitting balls really hard,” IronPigs hitting coach Joe Thurston told the Allentown Morning Call. “I told him that he can’t control weather, stadium, where guys are playing him. Obviously, you want those real numbers to be what the expected numbers are.

“But I want him to take some joy and positivity that the expected numbers he has are exceeding the numbers he does have. It’s letting him know he’s on the right track.”

Kingery -- who’s currently hitting .231 with two home runs, four RBI and seven stolen bases -- was signed to a six-year, $24 million deal before he ever played one inning in Major League Baseball.

After appearing in 273 games in 2018 and ’19, Kingery has totaled 52 games over the past three seasons.

Kingery proved to be valuable by playing six different positions in the field.

Along the way, he had shoulder surgery and had a difficult time with COVID during the 2020 season.After showing some good signs in spring training, it’s now up to Kingery to make the necessary corrections.

“I still think my game hasn’t changed too much,” Kingery told the Allentown Morning Call. “I like to pride myself on defense. I can play at a high level at multiple positions. The goal at the plate is being consistent, getting on base and creating havoc on the base paths.”

There's still time for Kingery to turn things around. At this stage, nobody truly knows if he will get back to the big leagues.