Scott Kingery’s rookie season after signing a six-year contract with the Phillies was largely a disappointment. Can he bounce back in his sophomore season?
The Phillies were forced into a tough situation with Scott Kingery to start the year. He hit .411 with a 1.226 OPS and five home runs in 22 spring training games, making a strong case to start the year with the major-league team. There were calls for him to start the year in the majors and trade starting second baseman Cesar Hernandez to clear a spot for Kingery.
Kingery signed a six-year, $24 million contract through the 2023 season with club options all the way through 2026. It is the largest contract given to a player before his major-league debut. This gave Kingery long-term financial security without worrying about arbitration or service time requirements. In exchange, the club secured Kingery through what should be his prime playing years at a significant discount.
Kingery started the year in a super-utility role with J.P. Crawford starting at shortstop and Hernandez starting at second. Manager Gabe Kapler plugged Kingery in wherever he needed him based on the given day.
The contract looked like a savvy move through the first two weeks of the season as Kingery had a .280/.315/.540 line with two home runs and 12 runs batted in through April 15. It was all downhill from there as Kingery finished the year with a .226/.267/.338 line, 62 wRC+, and -1.4 wins above replacement according to Baseball Reference.
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Positives
There were few, if any, positives to Kingery’s season. His best month came in August when he recorded only 38 plate appearances. Even then, he still only recorded eight hits, three of which went for extra bases. He struck out 12 times and walked only twice in this span.
Kingery went 10-for-13 in stolen base opportunities, which is something. At least he had that to his name.
Negatives
While there were few positives, I can ramble on all day about the negatives of Kingery’s season. The one that got to me the most was his plate discipline. It was a concern coming into the year considering his 4.5% walk rate and 20.3% strikeout rate in Triple-A. Those concerns quickly became valid.
Kingery struck out in 26% and walked in just 5.0% of his plate appearances this year. His 0.19 walk-to-strikeout was eighth-worst among all hitters with 450 or more plate appearances. When you dive into Kingery’s deeper plate discipline numbers, it only gets worse. He swung at 39.4% of pitches outside of the zone, 19th-most. He wound up in 0-2 counts in 154 of his 484 plate appearances (31.8%), third-most among all hitters this year. This led to 68 strikeouts, 16th-most among all hitters in 0-2 counts.
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These poor plate discipline numbers led to one of the worst offensive seasons in the league this year. Among NL hitters with 450 or more plate appearances, Kingery had the worst wRC+, weighted on-base average, and on-base percentage, and second-worst batting average and slugging percentage.
Kingery also provided poor defense at shortstop, the position he played almost exclusively due to injuries to Crawford. He had -6 defensive runs saved, sixth-worst among NL shortstops with 850 or more innings, and a .757 revised zone rating, eight-worst. Kingery made 13 errors, tied for 15th-most among all NL players. While his defense looked better at the end of the season compared to the start, it still wasn’t great.
Kingery gets a big old F from me. There really was nothing positive to take away from this season. Perhaps some of his issues can be attributed to not being ready for the majors and/or having to learn a new position, but he was still a drag on the team all season long.
Will he return?
Kingery is a long-term part of this organization one way or another with his contract already in place. Next year, the best plan for his long-term success is to have him start the year in Triple-A. He clearly showed this year that he isn’t ready for the major leagues, and more time in the minors is likely necessary. While the front office will be showing their butts by sending him back to the minors, it is ultimately the best course of action for his long-term future.
The shortstop position as a whole is a huge question mark next year. There is a strong chance the team goes out and signs Manny Machado to play the position for the coming years. Whether or not Machado comes here, Kingery isn’t a long-term option at shortstop. There is a good chance he moves back to second base. Cesar Hernandez isn’t confident he will come back next year, giving Kingery a place to play next year if he doesn’t start the year in Triple-A.
Kingery will be in the organization for quite some time and should be with the major-league club for a good portion of the season. Next year he needs to show significant improvement; otherwise, his future will be in serious doubt.