It’s easy to forget that a youthful core of players like Rhys Hoskins, Maikel Franco, Spencer Howard, and Scott Kingery once promised the Philadelphia Phillies a bright future. Ultimately, only Hoskins would reach his full potential in a Phillies uniform, while the other three rapidly slipped into oblivion, as seen by the erratic baseball paths carved out by the trio of former Phillies prospects from that era to the present.
The term prospect means nothing more than that. A catch-all word for the untapped potential that any business and its scouts seek to discover in its youthful talent pool.
If history has taught dedicated baseball fans anything, it is that the hype train does not always live up to its lofty expectations and projections. Often, the athletes in question are who they are, and competing at the highest level of the sport emphasizes this fact.
Former top prospect Scott Kingery blames changes to Phillies’ hitting philosophy
What happens when an organization itself falls victim to unrealistic expectations? When the Phillies signed Scott Kingery to a six-year, $24 million contract extension in March 2018, aiming to secure his arbitration years, few could have predicted that he would become little more than an afterthought over the next seven years.
After being traded to the Los Angeles Angels earlier this offseason, Kingery opened up to The Athletic’s Sam Blum about his struggles with the Phillies, particularly after the 2020 season.
“After [Gabe] Kapler was gone, some new guys came in,” Kingery told Blum. “We didn’t quite agree on hitting philosophy and the way I went about my swing. I felt like I was put in a tough position to succeed the way I wanted to.”
According to Kingery, a former hitting coach had helped him add loft to his swing while he was in the minors, something that excited a Phillies front office desperate for an impact bat during a period of mediocrity. However, two years later—after he posted a .258 average with 19 home runs—a major organizational shift cast doubt on his entire approach. A change in philosophy ultimately led to his downfall with the team and left a lasting impact on his career.
While Kingery has valid reasons to point to the adjustments made to his swing, his reluctance to adapt also played a role. His former Triple-A manager, Anthony Contreras, noted that Kingery was often resistant to changes.
“To an extent, he was very stubborn with what he wanted to do in the box,” Contreras told Blum. “There were a few times throughout his career with me where I would try to suggest some things… It was just about finding ways to be a little more efficient.”
Kingery’s performance in Triple-A last season showed he still had something to offer, but it was too little, too late for the Phillies. Despite hitting .268 with 25 home runs and 67 RBIs for Lehigh Valley in 2024, it wasn’t enough to earn another opportunity, even as the big-league club dealt with injuries.
Now with the Angels, Kingery has a more realistic path to making an impact. But looking back, his struggles in Philadelphia seem to be a shared failure between player and organization. As the Phillies shift their focus to developing top prospects like Aidan Miller and Justin Crawford, fans can only hope the franchise has learned valuable lessons from the Kingery saga.