Kingery return would be boost
Adam Haseley is a marginal defensive centerfielder who has not shown major-league offensive clout in more than a year.
Roman Quinn is a minimal-production switch-hitter with below-average big-league power.
Infielder Ronald Torreyes has four home runs in 640 career plate appearances, and he is occupying a roster spot for a team with no other righthanded pinch-hitter.
Three players, minimal production, and a cockeyed example of roster construction.
The solution: His Jet-Packness, Scott Kingery.
Not that Kingery hasn’t been a disappointment for that $24 million contract he jumped on before ever taking a majorleague at-bat, for he has been a .233 hitter in parts of three bigleague seasons. But that financial commitment was a mistake by an entry-level general manager. That money is gone. There will be no give-backs. So evaluate Kingery for what he can do for the 2021 Phillies, not as the superstar-to-be Matt Klentak was certain he was securing with that 2018 pre-emptive contract offer.
Kingery can platoon in centerfield with Quinn, whose speed and arm make him a useful roster piece no matter how he performs at the plate. Even if the after-effects of his coronavirus battle made him virtually useless at the plate in the 2020 mini-season, Kingery did demonstrate in his first three seasons that he is a better overall offensive player than Haseley.
On those days Kingery does not start in the outfield, he would free Alec Bohm, Didi Gregorius or Jean Segura for a maintenance day, and he would be a defensive upgrade over all three. That would allow the Phillies to open the roster spot being held hostage by Torreyes. And with that, the puzzle can be solved, with Dave Dombrowski filling open spot with a right-handed hitter with some pop, balancing a bench that includes lefthanded-hitting Matt Joyce and Brad Miller.
Matt Kemp, who has 287 career home runs, is available. There are others, and the Phillies need one. But it cannot happen until Kingery is freed from the alternate camp, where he was sent after spring training for remedial hitting work.
“Scotty went down to get right,” Joe Girardi said. “And we don’t feel Scotty is ready to come back right now. So our roster is what it is.”
Kingery’s demotion to Allentown was not unwarranted. He hit .159 with three home runs in the 2020 miniseason, with 35 strikeouts and nine walks. But he was limited to 34 games after what was said to be a rugged fight with the coronavirus. Less able to be reasoned away, though, was another .159 pip in spring training, with one home run in 44 at-bats.
“When we sent him out, he was very open with us about how he got to the point where he has gotten,” Dombrowski said at the time. “This guy is a good player, a very good player. And he’s got tremendous tools. He needs to continue to work on leveling his swing. We need to see that consistent improvement. And playing every day, you have a better chance to do that.”
In his three seasons, Kingery has shown every necessary baseball tool. His 30 career home runs are more than the combined 17 from Haseley, Quinn and Torreyes. If Quinn is baseball’s fastest player, Kingery would be in the finish-line photo. He is a plus defender in the infield, and has been at least as presentable in center as Haseley. He has hit, at times, in the clutch.
“He’s the kind of guy you make an investment in,” Gabe Kapler said when Kingery signed his contract. “He’s the kind of character you make an investment in. He’s the kind of all-around athlete that you make an investment in.”
Girardi says Kingery has made some advances at Camp Lehigh Valley. And since the Phils entered Citi Field in first place in the NL East, they were not in a frenzied rush to disrupt much.
“I think our roster,” said Girardi, “is pretty good.”
It’s early. Haseley, a former first-round pick, is likely to stir. Quinn stung a few balls in Atlanta. Torreyes has not played enough to lose a job.
“We want to see consistent at-bats and a change in Scotty’s mechanics a little bit, using the whole field,” Girardi said. “If he’s hitting at a high clip, he’ll be your everyday centerfielder. Then you might rotate him a little bit in the infield and play other guys.
“So it’s really hard to say exactly what his role is. If he plays like he is capable of playing, and the way we feel he is capable of playing, he’s going to play every day somewhere.”
It would be a way for the Phillies to open a roster spot for an accomplished righthanded pinch-hitter while sacrificing nothing in centerfield.
So make it soon.