Minor League Games - April 19th, 2024

[Squire]

AAA: Lehigh Valley (RHP Tyler Phillips) at Scranton WB - 6:35PM
AA: Reading (RHP Robinson Pina) at Binghamton - 6:05PM
High A: Brooklyn at Jersey Shore (TBD) - 6:35PM
Low A: Clearwater (TBD) at Dunedin - 6:30PM

Rolling Scores Here - https://www.milb.com/scores/2024-04-19/all/all/phillies

Rolling Boxes Here - https://www.mlb.com/prospects/stats/affiliates?teamId=143&date=04/19/2024

[andyb]

Mitch Rupert on Scott Kingery here. Kingery just seems to be a good guy. Not saying they should even think about replacing Merrifield now, but if Kingery is still hitting in June or July and Merrifield is not - the Phillies would probably consider it.

Enjoy the Kingery Ride

[Austinfan]

Kingery is 30, in the same boat as Luplow, Dahl, Clemons, Kroon, Wilson and Hall.
First you got to tear up AAA pitching for an extended stretch (2 months or longer)
Then when you get a shot, "Wally Pipp" someone.
What AAAA players can't afford is to do what Cave did, look great in AAA then struggle in the Show.
At that age you can't expect the same patience the organization will show a 23 year old prospect.

[julio]

Scott Kingery is what you see when you look over your shoulder - as in, when you look back. He's not what you see when looking forward.

Scott Kingery proved to be pretty much what scouts thought, before the great spring training, before the big contract. He could not make the adjustments at the major-league level. He came up, looked good; teams adjusted; Kingery could not. End of story (or it should have been, and would have been, if not for the multi-year contract).

There are now more than a few interesting prospects in the Phillies' system. Scott Kingery is not one of them.

[Austinfan]

Every so often a late bloomer emerges, I remember Coste.
But you don't bet on these guys, you let them pleasantly surprise you.

[phillychuck]

Usually the late bloomers flower in a different garden.

[andyb]

Kingery is not a late bloomer. He had a series of injuries and ill-advised swing adjustments So he became less good in his prime. That article was not at all supposed to be a piece suggesting he is a late bloomer. He is just playing well now and apparently healthy. Health and a better swing approach could actually bring him back to maybe 80% of what he could have been if he had been healthy in his prime.

Julio - I am not sure it is quite as simple as teams adjusted. He DID get hurt. And the Phillies did try to make him into more of a power hitter than they should have. I also note that he was denied the AAA year that his stats suggested he needed to master the strike zone against better hitters. This is a concern with Rojas now as it is easier to learn at AAA. Kingery also was moved to SS when he should probably stayed at 2B. Yes, JP Crawford was injured sometimes and could never fully claim that job with the Phillies. But there were also times they were both healthy and they should have just stuck with Crawford (before making one of the worst trades in recent Phillies history to get rid of him).

Kingery is not really a prospect. But he could be better than Weston Wilson and Jose Rodriguez and Matt Kroon among the other lightly regarded utility prospects we have in the upper minors. He is not interesting any more. But he might actually be able to deliver a 700 OPS with some speed and defense at multiple positions now.

[zambonir]

There's just a whole lot that would have to happen for him to get a look, including them solving the center fielder redundancy of Rojas/Pache, cutting an $8 million player and bypassing everyone else already on 40 (or everyone else failing). There's no question he might be a better player than Merrifield at his age, with an identical skill set. But in the long run they need a true OF, and if they are willing to DFA or trade-dump Whit it will probably be for a bigger addition in late July. But it all still depends on where Marsh is playing most often, which still depends on Rojas sticking or not.

Two RH utility IFs is still redundant for this team too. It's just that they have tried to tell us Merrifield is an OF who can also hit RHP. Certainly Kingery (or Castro) can do what he's doing currently. And certainly on paper Kingery is no different or better than other AAAA guys like Wilson or Cave, there's just the sentimentality (and sense of belatedly contributing) attached to him.

[allentown]

Usually the late bloomers flower in a different garden.

But the big, longish contract isn't usual. He's not the star of the future we dreamed on after the big ST and contract which shouted that the Phillies REALLY thought he was for real. He won't even be a star in Philly for the rest of this season. He very well could become our best choice for this year's spare IF/OF. Which means that he could actually be better than one of bench player on the 26-man roster as an IF/OF, including possibly the $8 million man -- or not, this might just be a short hot streak. You never can tell at this point in this season and Kingery's career and Merrifield's career.

[bkox]

You will want to click on the video link. Its pretty good

Emaarion Boyd goes Willie Mays on the fly ball to deep center for Jersey Shore pic.twitter.com/54yVOBj89A

— Mitch Rupert ( @Mitch_Rupert ) April 20, 2024

[phillychuck]

Nice catch, not the best route to the ball, but still...!!

[andyb]

Ethan Wilson first action in extended. Aroon Escobar and Starlyn Caba continue to hit.

4/19/24 : Today at the Complex

We are 2 weeks away from FCL action (Saturday May 4th). Looks like the team plays every day except for Wednesdays and Sundays.