Kapler enjoying mix-and-match with Kingery
PHILADELPHIA » The lineup card is less of a puzzle for Phillies manager Gabe Kapler thanks to a movable piece.
That would be Scott Kingery, who Wednesday started at his third position in three days for the Phillies, filling in for left fielder Rhys Hoskins, who was scheduled for a rest. The Phils were 5-2 with Kingery in the starting lineup before playing the Reds.
The flexibility Kingery provides in terms of position and batting order has made managing fun for Kapler.
“When we have this puzzle to put together, it’s incredibly valuable to have one guy that can do it all,” Kapler said. “It’s awesome. And he can hit in several different spots in the lineup.”
Kingery entered the getaway game against batting .258 with two home runs and six RBIs. He belted a grand slam Tuesday to ice the 6-1 success over the Reds, then applauded teammate J.P. Crawford for plating the game-winning run.
Defensively Kingery, 23, has handled 13 chances over 21 innings without committing an error. On Wednesday he threw Jose Peraza out at home from deep left field to preserve a one-run lead.
Kapler’s enthusiasm for versatile players like Kingery goes back to his playing days with the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I played with Ben Zobrist in Tampa, and in 2009 he was really good at it,” Kapler said. “He just had a lot of gloves. He had a lot of gloves on the bench and he’d go out to various positions. If he was playing left field that day or right field that day, he would just go take his balls in left field or right field. If he was playing second, you’d see him take a lot of grounders at second base. He was kind of like Scotty in that he was athletic, although he’s not probably as agile as Scotty is.”
Zobrist (6-3, 210) was eighth in the AL MVP voting in 2009, a season in which he batted .297 with 27 homers and 91 RBIs. The World Series MVP with the Cubs in 2016 has batted .263 career and is in his 13th Big League season.
“One of the things that’s cool about Scott is that every day he comes prepared to play any position on the field,” Kapler said. “And we’ve seen that he can go out to right field. We’ve seen that he can go out to left, shortstop, third base and handle those positions seamlessly. He’s just that athletic and that prepared.”
Hoskins has batted .375 with two homers, nine RBIs and a 1.219 OPS, looking anything but tired in the first 10 games. It’s the latter part of the season that concerns Kapler, as he thinks his team will be relevant in September.
With the Phillies off Thursday, Hoskins gets a two-day rest.
“A long stretch of a lot of games coming up,” Kapler said. “He’s going to be in the lineup just about every day for the rest of the season. We kind of pick and choose our times for him to get back-to-back blows so that he can be super-healthy coming forward — and actually feel like his timing is synced up and on point.”
Kapler said he spoke to Hoskins about rest about a week ago.
“We planned a couple of different possibilities and days and then this morning I let him know,” Kapler said.
*** The Phillies are off Thursday. Vince Velasquez (1-1, 5.19) and the Phils oppose Jake Faria (0-1, 14.29) Friday in Tampa, where the designated hitter rule is in effect.
“We know that every day we come to the ballpark there’s going to be somebody that isn’t playing that night that’s a really good baseball player, and they could probably play in a lot of other lineups that night,” Kapler said. “That’s a really good problem to have. At the same time, it makes it a little bit challenging now that we’ve got an additional spot to fill in the lineup in Tampa. It’s not like we’re going to relax. But it’s definitely going to make things a little bit easier for a few days.”
Jake Arrieta (0-0, 4.50) takes on Chris Archer (1-0, 5.94) of the Rays at 6:10 p.m. Saturday. Ben Lively (01, 5.56) pitches for the Phils in the 1:10 p.m. Sunday getaway.
*** NOTES » The Phillies average of 4.35 pitches per plate appearances entering Wednesday night was the most in the NL. Aaron Altherr (first, 5.16), Cesar Hernandez (third, 4.73), Hoskins (fourth, 4.52) and Carlos Santana (ninth, 4.41) rank in the top 10 in the NL in pitches per plate appearance. … Kapler was encouraged by reliever Tommy Hunter’s fielding and throwing stint here Wednesday. He’s on the disabled list with a hamstring issue. To be determined is how long a rehab assignment he needs, if any. Kapler says a decision hasn’t been made to take Hunter on the upcoming sixgame road trip.