In his first Triple-A game, Scott Kingery made his presence known as the Phillies prospect made a circus catch for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
The Phillies aren’t very exciting in the major-leagues right now with a 24-51 record and few players standing out. The biggest conversation around the team is who could be traded by the end of the July at the trade deadline.
However, there is plenty of excitement in the minors with several prospects shining. Scott Kingery is just one of those prospects.
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Kingery was promoted to Triple-A Sunday night and made his debut for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs Monday night. He went 1-for-5 at the plate with a stolen base, but it was on defense where he made his presence felt.
With runners on the corners and no one out, Matt Dominguez of the Pawtucket Red Sox flared a pop-up into shallow right field. Kingery ranged back, leaped up and made the catch over his shoulder.
He robbed Dominguez of a RBI single and keep the game scoreless for the time being.
Lehigh Valley’s play-by-play announcer, Troy Hein, was in awe of the catch. He said, “I thought there was no way in Hades he would make that catch!” The clip made it onto SportsCenter’s Top Ten plays for Monday.
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Kingery also made a nice play later on in the game, tracking a ground ball down behind the second-base bag to throw out Steve Selsky and end the top of the sixth inning.
Kingery led Eastern League second baseman with a .989 fielding percentage before being promoted. He is regarded as an above-average defender at second, so we could see more and more web gems as Kingery’s career continues.
The game wound up being a 5-4 loss for the IronPigs in ten innings, but it was still an exciting game as the IronPigs had their seventh straight sellout, a new franchise record.
After the game, Kingery expressed his excitement about being at Triple-A and learning the ropes there:
"“It’s definitely awesome to have the Phillies think enough of me to bump me up here,” Kingery said. “From here, I just have to figure out what I can do here. I think there’s going to be some adjustments and a learning curve everywhere.”"
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As Kingery’s time in Lehigh Valley, we will have to see if he can maintain his eye-opening numbers from Double-A. He hit 18 home runs and posted a .987 OPS in 69 games in Reading.