Scott Kingery

Scott Michael Kingery

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 180 lb.
• School University of Arizona
• High School Mountain Pointe High School
• Debut March 30, 2018

• Born April 29, 1994 in Phoenix, AZ USA

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Biographical Information

Infielder Scott Kingery was taken in the 2nd round of the 2015 amateur draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, out of the University of Arizona, and made his big league debut with the club in 2018.

He made his professional debut in 2015 with the Lakewood Blue Claws of the South Atlantic League, hitting .250/.314/.337 in 66 games. He started the 2016 season with the Clearwater Threshers of the Florida State League, where he hit .293 in 94 games, earning a late-season promotion to the Reading Fightin' Phils of the AA Eastern League, where he hit .250 in 37 games. In a combined 131 games, his batting line was .281/.335/.388 with 76 runs, 5 homers, 46 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. He then split the 2017 season between Reading and the AAA Lehigh Valley IronPigs. Between the two stops, he played the the United States team in the 2017 Futures Game at Marlins Park. He hit well at both stops, with a .313 average at Reading and .294 at Lehigh Valley, in 69 and 63 games respectively. That gave him a line of .304/.359/.530 in 132 games, with 103 runs and 65 RBIs. His power caught up with the rest of his offense, as he slammed 29 doubles, 8 triples and 26 homers, and he continued to be a threat on the bases with 29 steals in 34 attempts.

Given this excellent all-around performance in 2017, he was named the #31 prospect by both Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus heading into 2018, and #35 by mlb.com. he went into spring training with a solid chance of earning a job with the Phillies, although there was a question as to where he would play, given the Phils had good young players at his three potential positions: 2B, SS and CF. He did make the team's Opening Day roster and made his debut on March 30th, going 2-for-5 against the Atlanta Braves. However, he did not produce as much as expected with the bat, ending up at .226 with 8 homers and 35 RBIs in 147 games, for an OPS+ of just 61. he was the team's main shortstop, but also saw time at various other positions. However, given his poor production, the Phillies went out and acquired a top-notch shortstop after the season in Jean Segura, relegating Scott to a back-up role in 2019. He then missed a full month with a hamstring injury between April 20th and May 19th, which was too bad as he had started the year red hot, hitting .406 through 14 games. He cooled down a bit, but was still hitting over .330 in early June when on June 10th he hit a pair of homers in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in which the two teams combined for a major league record 13 long balls. The following day, he homered again and drove in 3 runs to lead Philly to a 7-4 win over Arizona. His final numbers included a .258 average in 126 games, with 34 doubles, 19 homers, 64 runs and 55 RBIs in 126 games. His OPS+ improved to 100. He was a prototypical utility player that year, with 65 games in center field, 41 at third base, 18 at shortstop, and 10 each at second base and in left field.

During the interruption of the 2020 season caused by the coronavirus pandemic, he was one of the few active players to come down with the disease in June. When training camp resumed in July, he explained that he had first come down with a "hellish cough" around June 11, followed a few days later by chills and shaking and a high fever. He then lost his senses of smell and taste for a few days, experienced extreme fatigue and shortness of breath and was still not fully recovered by the time of re-opening, being told to stay behind at home in Arizona until his full recovery. He also explained that he had likely been infected while working out with other players, some of whom also came down with the disease, but that it was very difficult for him to obtain a reliable test confirming that he had in fact been infected with COVID-19. "I want people to know this is not a two-week thing if you get it. You’re not supposed to do any physical activity for 10 to 14 days after a positive test. That could be a month. That’s a huge part of the season so you don’t want to get it. You have to take the precautions and protocols seriously."

Scouts have often compared him to Dustin Pedroia, another diminutive middle infielder whose power belies his small size, and who was overlooked before excelling in college. Another comparison is Ben Zobrist, for his ability to start at multiple positions while providing above average offense. He played for Phoenix, AZ in the 2006 Little League World Series. He is not relation to 1980s and 1990s outfielder Mike Kingery, whose middle name was Scott, while his own middle name is Michael.

Further Reading

• Gabe Lacques: "'This is not a two-week thing': Phillies' Scott Kingery details perilous COVID-19 battle", USA Today, July 7, 2020. [1]
• Jon Paul Morosi: "Kingery happy to move around diamond: Philly's No. 2 prospect could challenge for starting role at 2B, SS, 3B or OF", mlb.com, March 14, 2018. [2]
• Andrew Simon: "Don't give up on these two former phenoms: They struggled as rookies, but don't count out these former phenoms", mlb.com, March 6, 2019. [3]
• Todd Zolecki: "Kingery embracing Mr. Versatility role as rookie: Three ex-players who were multi-position regulars weigh in on what job entails", mlb.com, May 4, 2018. [4]

Related Sites

• Scott Kingery on mlb.com
• University of Arizona bio