Scott Kingery


Scott Michael Kingery is an American professional baseball infielder/outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. He played baseball collegiately for the University of Arizona Wildcats. He was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. Kingery made his major league debut in 2018.

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. Kingery attended Mountain Pointe High School in Ahwatukee, Phoenix, Arizona. He played for the school's baseball team as a shortstop. As a junior, he had a.495 batting average. In his senior year, Kingery batted.485 with eight home runs and 36 runs batted in. He was named an All-American by Louisville Slugger. 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.

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. 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.
As a freshman, Kingery started 30 games and had a.261 batting average. The Wildcats' coaches asked Kingery to play as a center fielder in his sophomore year. 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. 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.
As a junior in 2015, Kingery played as a second baseman. 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. He was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Year.

Professional career

Minor leagues

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Kingery in the second round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft. He later signed with the team after agreeing to a $1,259,600 signing bonus, and was assigned to the Lakewood BlueClaws of the Class A South Atlantic League, 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. After the 2016 regular season, Kingery played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League and batted.234.
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. Between Reading and Lehigh Valley, Kingery posted a combined.304 batting average, 26 home runs, 65 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases. 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. He also won the minor league Rawlings Gold Glove Award for second base.

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.
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. 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. In 2018 he batted.226/.267/.338, with 8 home runs, 35 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases in 452 at bats. 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.
In 2019, he batted.258/.315/.474 with 19 home runs, 55 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 458 at bats. 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.

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. 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. Scott's father, Tom, coached his Little League team. In June 2020, Kingery tested positive for COVID-19. He was cleared to join the team on July 11.