Scott Kingery

Scott Michael Kingery (born April 29, 1994) is an American professional baseball infielder/outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the University of Arizona Wildcats. Kingery was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. He made his major league debut in 2018.

Scott Kingery
Kingery in July 2018
Philadelphia Phillies – No. 4
Second baseman / Center fielder
Born: (1994-04-29) April 29, 1994
Phoenix, Arizona
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
March 30, 2018, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.233
Home runs30
Runs batted in96
Teams

Early life

Kingery was born in Phoenix, Arizona. He played Little League Baseball. In 2006, his team won the West Region and advanced to the 2006 Little League World Series.[1] Kingery attended Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee, Phoenix, Arizona.[2] He played for the school's baseball team as a shortstop.[3] As a junior, he had a .495 batting average.[4] In his senior year, Kingery batted .485 with eight home runs and 36 runs batted in (RBIs).[5] He was named an All-American by Louisville Slugger.[6][7] He was not recruited by National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I universities, and sent letters to college baseball coaches telling them when he would appear in Amateur Athletic Union competitions.[3]

College career

Kingery did not receive any scholarship offers from Division I, Division II, or Division III schools, only receiving interest from Central Arizona College.[1] He chose to attend the University of Arizona after an assistant coach for the Wildcats offered Kingery an opportunity to join the team as a preferred walk on.[8][3][9]

As a freshman, Kingery started 30 games and had a .261 batting average.[10] The Wildcats' coaches asked Kingery to play as a center fielder in his sophomore year.[3] That year, Kingery started 53 of 54 games, hitting .354, which led the conference, came in 2nd in the conference with a .456 on base percentage and 19 stolen bases, and was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference team.[10][11] In the summer following his sophomore season, Kingery played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Brewster Whitecaps. He batted .312 in 33 games, and was named an All-Star.[12]

As a junior in 2015, Kingery played as a second baseman.[3] He batted .392 in his junior year, which led the conference for the second consecutive year, tied for 2nd in the conference with 5 triples, and came in 3rd in the Pac-12 with a .561 slugging percentage and 53 runs scored.[13] He was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year.[14][15]

Professional career

Minor leagues

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Kingery in the second round (48th overall) of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. He later signed with the team after agreeing to a $1,259,600 signing bonus,[16] and was assigned to the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Class A South Atlantic League,[5] where he posted a .250 batting average with three home runs and 21 RBIs. Kingery spent the 2016 season with both the Clearwater Threshers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and the Reading Fightin Phils of the Class AA Eastern League, where he batted a combined .281 with five home runs and 46 RBIs, along with 30 stolen bases between both teams.[17] After the 2016 regular season, Kingery played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League and batted .234.[3]

The Phillies invited Kingery to spring training in 2017. During the 2017 season, Kingery played for both Reading and the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the Class AAA International League. He was selected to appear in the 2017 All-Star Futures Game.[18] Between Reading and Lehigh Valley, Kingery posted a combined .304 batting average, 26 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases.[19] After the season, Baseball America named him as the second baseman on their second team of the Minor League All-Star Team, and the Phillies named him their top minor league hitter and he won the Paul Owens Award as the best player in the Phillies minor league system.[20][21][22] He also won the minor league Rawlings Gold Glove Award for second base.[22]

Philadelphia Phillies

On March 25, 2018, the Phillies announced that they had signed Kingery to a six-year contract through 2023 worth a guaranteed $24 million, the largest guarantee for a player yet to make his major league debut. The contract includes club options for the 2024, 2025, and 2026 seasons that could raise the total contract value to $65 million. It was also announced that he had made the Opening Day 25-man roster.[23]

He made his MLB debut on March 30 against the Atlanta Braves at SunTrust Park and got his first hit that same night, a single off of Mike Foltynewicz.[24] He hit his first major league home run on April 9, a solo shot off of Cody Reed of the Cincinnati Reds, helping lead the Phillies to a 6-5 win. He hit his first career grand slam the next night off of Tanner Rainey in a 6-1 victory.[25] In 2018 he batted .226/.267/.338, with 8 home runs, 35 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases (3rd among NL rookies) in 452 at bats.[26][27] He played in 147 games: 119 at shortstop, 10 at 3rd base, 4 each at second base and in left field, 3 in right field, and one each in right field and as a pitcher.[27]

In 2019, he batted .258/.315/.474 with 19 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 458 at bats.[28] He played in 126 games: 64 in center field, 41 at third base, 18 at shortstop, 10 each at second base and in left field, and one in right field.[28]

Personal life

Kingery has an identical twin, Sam, who also played on the Mountain Pointe baseball team. While Scott played shortstop, Sam played second base. Sam attended Northern Arizona University as a freshman, then transferred to Arizona and tried out for the baseball team, but did not make it.[29] He also has an older brother, Matt, who is an orthopedic surgery resident at NYU School of Medicine and has authored several papers in the fields of orthopedic surgery and sports medicine.[30][31][32] Scott's father, Tom, coached his Little League team.[33] In June 2020, Kingery tested positive for COVID-19. He was cleared to join the team on July 11.[34]

References
  1. "Phillies' Kingery enjoyed early success". MiLB.com. March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  2. Skoda, Jason P. (June 22, 2012). "Still in the running: MP's Kingery hoping to be a late DI recruit". Ahwatukee Foothills News.
  3. "Sielski: Phils farmhand Kingery begged for his first shot". Philly. March 1, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  4. "MLB Draft: The scoop on Phillies' 2nd-round pick Scott Kingery". NJ.com. June 9, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  5. Tom Reifsnyder (July 28, 2015). "Phillies prospect Scott Kingery slowly acclimating to pro ball". Philly. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  6. "Pleskoff Scouting Report | Phillies prospect Scott Kingery". FanRag Sports. March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  7. Bartel, Jason (May 26, 2015). "Arizona baseball: Scott Kingery goes from walk-on to Pac-12 Batting Champ - Arizona Desert Swarm". Azdesertswarm.com. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  8. "Ex-Arizona Wildcat Scott Kingery could get shot with Phillies soon | Tucson Sports". tucson.com. April 30, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  9. Berk, Daniel (June 7, 2015). "MLB draft: Kingery ready for draft to be over". Arizona Daily Star.
  10. Berk, Daniel (May 27, 2015). "Arizona baseball: Kingery earns 'incredible' baseball honor". Arizona Daily Star.
  11. "2014 Pac-12 Baseball - Individual Statistics".
  12. Dougherty, Jesse (June 8, 2015). "Five things to know about Phillies pick Scott Kingery". Philly. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  13. "2015 Pac-12 Baseball - Individual Statistics".
  14. Daniel Berk, Arizona Daily Star (May 27, 2015). "Arizona's Scott Kingery Pac-12 baseball player of year". Azcentral.com. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  15. News, Jason P. Skoda, Ahwatukee Foothills. "Kingery expected to be latest high draft pick".
  16. "Phillies top draft pick Cornelius Randolph gets a sweet deal". NJ.com. June 16, 2015. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  17. "Scott Kingery Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com.
  18. "Scott Kingery's power surge leads to Futures Game invite, MLB future | Arizona Wildcats Baseball". tucson.com. July 8, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  19. "Scott Kingery Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  20. Glaser, Kyle (September 8, 2017). "2017 Minor League All-Star Team: Precocious Young Hitters Lead The Way". BaseballAmerica.com. Baseball America Enterprises. Retrieved September 9, 2017.
  21. Salisbury, Jim (September 19, 2017). "Phillies prospects Scott Kingery, Tom Eshelman receive honors". Nbcsports.com. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  22. Scott Kingery Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com
  23. Brookover, Bob (March 25, 2018). "Scott Kingery gets six-year deal, plus spot on Phils opening-day roster". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  24. Zolecki, Todd (March 31, 2018). "Kingery collects two 108-mph hits in debut". MLB.com. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  25. "Scott Kingery joins Chase Utley with grand slam | Extra Innings". April 11, 2018.
  26. Scott Kingery Stats | Baseball-Reference.com
  27. Scott Kingery Stats, Fantasy & News | MLB.com
  28. "Scott Kingery Stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  29. Hartman, Kim (March 22, 2014). "Arizona twin brothers strengthen their bond with baseball". Digital Journal. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  30. Clair, Andrew J.; Kingery, Matthew T.; Anil, Utkarsh; Kenny, Lena; Kirsch, Thorsten; Strauss, Eric J. (February 20, 2019). "Alterations in Synovial Fluid Biomarker Levels in Knees With Meniscal Injury as Compared With Asymptomatic Contralateral Knees". The American Journal of Sports Medicine. 47 (4): 847–856. doi:10.1177/0363546519825498. ISSN 1552-3365. PMID 30786221. S2CID 73489851.
  31. Kingery, Matthew T.; Cuff, Germaine E.; Hutzler, Lorraine H.; Popovic, Jovan; Davidovitch, Roy I.; Bosco, Joseph A. (January 2018). "Total Joint Arthroplasty in Ambulatory Surgery Centers: Analysis of Disqualifying Conditions and the Frequency at Which They Occur". The Journal of Arthroplasty. 33 (1): 6–9. doi:10.1016/j.arth.2017.07.048. ISSN 1532-8406. PMID 28870744.
  32. Bronson, Wesley H.; Kingery, Matthew T.; Hutzler, Lorraine; Karia, Raj; Errico, Thomas; Bosco, Joseph; Bendo, John A. (February 15, 2019). "Lack of Cost Savings for Lumbar Spine Fusions After Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative: A Consequence of Increased Case Complexity". Spine. 44 (4): 298–304. doi:10.1097/BRS.0000000000002812. ISSN 1528-1159. PMID 30045344. S2CID 51720667.
  33. "Kingery's path from Lamade to Lehigh Valley has him on doorstep of the major leagues | News, Sports, Jobs - Williamsport Sun-Gazette". Sungazette.com. August 14, 2017. Retrieved March 26, 2018.
  34. "Phils cautious with Kingery after virus recovery". MLB.com. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
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