That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies are better off optioning Scott Kingery than J.P. Crawford

By John Town

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 05: J.P. Crawford #2 and Scott Kingery #4 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their 5-0 win over the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on April 5, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 5-0. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 05: J.P. Crawford #2 and Scott Kingery #4 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrate their 5-0 win over the Miami Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on April 5, 2018 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 5-0. (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /
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The Phillies may be forced to option one of their two young middle infielders to Triple-A Saturday. Sending down Scott Kingery is the better choice.

When the Phillies officially acquired Justin Bour from the Marlins Friday, they designated pitcher Jake Thompson for assignment to free up a 40-man roster spot. Bour is expected to join the team in San Diego Saturday, meaning someone has to be optioned to the minors. The team could simply send a reliever down, but that would leave them with seven for the first time all year.

Instead, the club will likely have to make a tough choice between Scott Kingery and J.P. Crawford. Kingery has lost the starting shortstop role to deadline acquisition Asdrubal Cabrera, while Crawford just returned from the disabled list Friday. It would be redundant to have them both on the bench when they fill similar roles.

Neither player has been a standout this year. Kingery has hit just .223 with a .588 OPS, third-worst among all qualified hitters. He strikes out once in every four plate appearances while walking in just over one in 20. He has been worth -1.4 wins above replacement this season according to Baseball Reference.

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Crawford has played in only 34 games due to injury, 25 at shortstop and 11 at third base. His line is dismal at .194/.312/.333 with a 10.7 percent walk rate and 29.5 percent strikeout rate. His 80 wRC+ and 71 OPS+ are both better than Kingery’s but not by much.

Kingery has been with the team longer and has the six-year contract in place, but sending him back to Triple-A is the better option.

For starters, Kingery has just 63 career games in Triple-A compared to Crawford’s 215. Crawford showed he could handle the competition there when he had a .904 OPS from June 20 to the end of the season last year. Sending him back down for more development time would be overkill.

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Meanwhile, Kingery needs desperate work at the plate. 127 of his 394 plate appearances (32.2 percent of them) led to a 0-2 count. No hitter has gone down 0-2 more than Kingery this year. This has been a problem all year for him with little sign of changing. This is a skill he needs to hone, which he can’t do on the bench in Philadelphia. Kingery was supposed to start the year in Triple-A to work on this, but he never got the chance to.

When Crawford was off the disabled list in June, he displayed a much better approach at the plate. He drew eight walks in 13 games, leading to a .425 on-base percentage. This is what Crawford was known for as a prospect, and he showed he could do it in this span.

Unlike Kingery, Crawford doesn’t need Triple-A time to work on it.

Having Kingery play every day in Triple-A will also help him develop as a shortstop. His defense has gotten noticeably better as of late, but continuing to work on it will be crucial if the team truly sees him there long-term. If Cabrera is going to be playing every day there, Crawford is an ample defensive replacement.

Next. Justin Bour is Klentak's Matt Stairs. dark

Overall, Crawford has seen enough of Triple-A and has been somewhat better in the majors compared to Kingery. Kingery needs more time to hone his game at the plate and in the field, plus he will be back in the majors in a few weeks anyway.

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