Another day off is no help to slumping Kingery
PHILADELPHIA » Scott Kingery has one hit since the 2020 opener last month. The Phillies’ second baseman is 2-for-24 with no extra base hits and one RBI for a batting average of — get out your reading glasses — .083.
Kingery doesn’t know what has impacted him more, his lingering recovery from COVID or the seven days between Phillies games after 18 Miami Marlins tested positive for the virus in Philadelphia.
The last thing Kingery needed was another night off, which is what happened when the Phillies game with the Atlanta Braves was postponed due to rain Friday, rescheduled as part of a Sunday doubleheader.
Let’s start with the illness.
“It took me awhile once I got to camp to kind of get back in the swing of things after COVID and everything,” Kingery said on a Zoom conference Friday. “There were some lingering effects. Just like a little bit of shortness of breath. It got to a good point then we got shutdown for seven days, so I felt like I took a step back. Now it’s just about building that back up again.”
Last season Kingery batted a respectable .258 with 34 doubles, four triples, 19 homers and 55 RBIs while playing several positions, including emergency pitcher.
This year, anchored at second base by new manager Joe Girardi, Kingery was supposed to step it up a notch. It hasn’t helped that the use of in-game video has been banned due to the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.
“It’s big for me personally and I know it’s big for a lot of guys on our team,” Kingery said. “If you have an at-bat and maybe you were a little late or you’re not sure how the ball was moving you can go in and look at your mechanics. Like maybe I lunged at this one and I’ve got to stay back next time. Or my path wasn’t right. And you can go in and make those adjustments based off that video. This year you don’t have that. You’re basing it all on the field. And I know a lot of guys are mechanical guys so if their mechanics are wrong, they’re not going to feel right.”
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All signs pointed to Spencer Howard making his MLB debut Sunday when the Phillies take on the Braves. That was before Friday’s rainout.
The Phillies were scheduled to oppose lefty Max Fried (2-0, 2.04 ERA) in the 1 p.m. start.
Howard was the Phils’ second-round pick in the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft. Last year in Clearwater, he struck out 48 batters in 35 innings, securing a 2-1 record with a 1.29 ERA.
“I think there’s excitement for everybody,” Kingery said. “His stuff’s electric. I’ve faced him a couple of times. It didn’t turn out well for me. He’s got good stuff and I think he’s someone that can help the team.”
What made Howard tough for Kingery to hit is his deliberate delivery and the off-speed pitches to go with the fastball clocked at 98 miles per hour.
“He’s got a delivery where his lead arm kind of comes over the top, way up in the air and then he kind of just pulls it down and the ball gets on you really quick,” Kingery said. “And he’s got some nasty off-speed stuff. The slider-curveball, whatever he throws, is pretty nasty.”
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Girardi likes the big hits Phil Gosselin is piling up. And he thinks the Malvern Prep product is in the right role.
Gosselin is 6-for-10 (.600) with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs.
“He’s played extremely well, and most of his damage has been against lefthanders,” Girardi said. “We’ve got a couple more lefties coming up this week so you’re going to see him out there. But we’ve been very pleased with what he’s done. You look at what Jay Bruce has done with right-handers and I’ve been pleased with what he’s done. So we will continue to go with that right now.”
Bruce is batting .250 with a double, a triple, a homer and two RBIs.
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The Phillies have cancelled the 40th anniversary celebration of their 1980 World Series championship team scheduled for Sunday.
Instead they’re stocking the seats with — what else — high resolution cutouts of the players from that team. The current Phillies will wear powder blue throwbacks from 1980.
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NOTES » Jake Arrieta (0-1, 4.50) will start for the Phillies Saturday (6:05 p.m.). Vince Velasquez (0-0, 12.00) is in line for one of Sunday’s starts. Girardi said Aaron Nola will start Monday when the Phils oppose the Braves and Sean Newcomb (0-1, 6.57) Wheeler gets the nod Tuesday when the Phils begin a three-game series here with Baltimore Orioles.