Phillies: Previewing Scott Kingery’s role on the 2019 team

With pitchers and catchers reporting in under two months, along with recent acquisitions by the Phillies, how will Scott Kingery get playing time?

Scott Kingery appeared in 147 games for the Phillies over the 2018 season. He took the field in 141 and appeared at the shortstop position in 119. With the acquisition of Jean Segura from the Seattle Mariners Dec. 3, Kingery will not be filling the same role next year. This begs the question; where will he play? What will his role be?

Excluding shortstop, Kingery played 150 total innings in the field. 76.1 of those innings came from third base, 30 from left field, 23 from second base, 17.2 from right field, and 1.2 from center field.

There is also the inning and a third that he pitched in the 24-4 blowout in the first game of the doubleheader against the Mets back in August, but let’s hope that doesn’t need to happen again.

It’s likely that similar splits will reign supreme again next season, with Cesar Hernandez at second, Franco (or a player who was told to “get that money”) at third, and Segura at short. Expect a “super-utility” role for him next season, making spot starts at most of those positions, filling in for injuries, and pinch-hitting when necessary.

It is rather unlikely that the Phillies will try to turn him into an outfielder for several reasons (see Hoskins, Rhys). Andrew McCutchen is not going to ride the pine, and he spent a significant amount of playing time in right field (1243.2 innings) last year. This will likely push Nick Williams to left (assuming no other signings are made). Odubel Herrera and Roman Quinn will probably split duties in center, assuming one of them is not traded.

With an injury or two, Kingery could see some innings at any of these positions a little more consistently except for center field. However, with the current roster makeup, it’s likely that he will follow the steps of Whit Merrifield, Brock Holt, Martin Prado, Ben Zobrist, Kike Hernandez, and Chris Taylor, among others, and see a solid amount of playing time, just at a bevy of different positions.

Any playing time at all will depend on how Kingery is performing offensively. He was one of the worst hitters in the league last year, finishing the season with a .226/.267/.338 line, 62 wRC+, and a 26% strikeout rate. If he continues to struggle at the plate, it will be hard for him to get playing time.

On the other hand, if Kingery does turn things around at the plate, manager Gabe Kapler will try to find him at-bats as much as possible. Perhaps he may do so well that he can force the team into a trade to make him a starter again.

All statistics are provided from baseballreference.com.