Three years after his final regular season game with the Philadelphia Phillies, a former top prospect is getting a second chance to prove himself on the West Coast. So far, it looks like the Phillies made the right choice in parting ways with Scott Kingery, who was once seen as a potential franchise cornerstone.
After spending the last nine seasons in the Phillies organization, the Phillies officially cut ties with Kingery last November as they traded him to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations. It marked the end of an era for the former second-round pick, whom the Phillies rewarded with a six-year, $24 million contract in 2018, before he even played a major league game.
Over parts of five major league seasons from 2018 to 2022, Kingery hit .229 with 30 home runs and 96 RBIs. His best season in Philadelphia came in 2019 when he hit 19 home runs to go along with 55 RBIs and a .258 average, flashing the potential that the Phillies saw in him coming out of the University of Arizona.
Scott Kingery hasn't performed with the Angels after Phillies moved on
Unfortunately, Kingery was never able to get back to his 2019 form. He appeared in just 52 more games from 2020 to 2022 before he was removed from the roster and sent outright to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. This was due to a variety of factors, including lingering effects of the COVID-19 virus and multiple injuries, in addition to poor performance at the major league level when called upon. There were rumblings that he would rejoin the Phillies as a September call-up after a strong 2024 minor league season, but ultimately this never came to fruition.
Fast-forward to 2025 and Kingery received a second lease on life when he was called up by the Los Angeles Angels as a replacement for the struggling Tim Anderson on the major league roster. His promotion came after a very strong start to the minor league season, in which he hit .373 in 83 at-bats in Triple-A.
Despite a hot start in the minors, Kingery has been unable to make an impact for the Angels so far at second base, as he is hitting just .143 with eight strikeouts through 21 at-bats.
He was ultimately given a shot to take over the second base position, but has recently been limited to a sporadic utility role with the emergence of top prospect rookie Christian Moore, who has taken the majority of reps at second base over the course of the last week. Moore, 22, was the eighth overall pick in last year's MLB Draft and will look to give a spark to a team that is hovering around the .500 mark and looking for their first postseason appearance since 2014.
Sometimes a change of scenery is what a player needs to revitalize their career. Unfortunately for Scott Kingery and the Angels, it looks like that is not the case, and his days as a regular major league player may be in the rearview mirror unless he can turn it around quickly.