Tony Cutillo
In this dismal Philadelphia Phillies season, we are constantly looking for a spark that can help us through this grueling process of losing. One of those are the future prospects in the farm system. Once thought of one of the deepest in baseball, it now seems to be giving us more questions than answers.
Much to the chagrin of the front office, fans and media types all over have been calling for the promotion of guys like Nick Williams, Jorge Alfaro, Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery. While Williams was the first to get the nod, Kingery offers the most intrigue out of any prospect the Phillies have at the moment.
The former Arizona Wildcats outfielder and second baseman Kingery has been slugging the ball all year in Double-A (18 HR’s), and on the second anniversary of his first professional game, was promoted to the Philadelphia Phillies’ Triple-A team, where his power surge has continued. In just seven games with the IronPigs, Kingery has already hit four home runs and driven in seven runs. His defense has been stellar and has included a few spectacular catches at second base. Could he be making those same plays at third base in the near future?
Tom Housenick of the Allentown Morning Call was in the press box when he took notice of Kingery taking some ground balls at third base. Housenick took some video of the exercise and posted it to the Morning Call’s website, MCall.com. What could this mean for the Phillies?
Unless you have been hiding under a rock for the first half of the MLB season, you have witnessed the unfortunate regression of Maikel Franco. After a strong year that had us all, including myself, branding him as the future third basemen of the Phillies, he has knocked us back to reality with every swing and miss. In recent reports, Franco has said to be on the trading block, which means the Phillies have given up on their prized prospect. If that is indeed the case, the early momentum with Kingery at third base makes all the sense in the world. It will interesting to see how this one plays out……..
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