With latest homer, Kingery leads top prospects
The Phillies are loaded with talented young players at the Major League level -- Rhys Hoskins is just the tip of the iceberg -- and there are more on the way. Case in point is Scott Kingery.
Kingery is the team's top position player prospect and No. 2 in the organization behind Sixto Sanchez, as well as the No. 35 overall prospect in baseball and the top second-base prospect in the game. The 23-year-old is also having a monster Spring Training at the plate for Philadelphia, and Wednesday was no exception.
Kingery got only one at-bat against the Blue Jays, but he crushed his fourth home run of the spring, a two-run shot. It was a welcome blast, as Kingery had last homered on March 2.
But just because he hadn't homered in a while doesn't mean Kingery wasn't raking. He has a five-game hit streak going and is now batting .390 with a .732 slugging percentage and an 1.150 OPS in his 41 Spring Training at-bats.
Other top prospect performers from Wednesday's action:
• No. 66 overall prospect Franklin Barreto (A's No. 3) is in line to start the season at Triple-A, but he'll likely be a big league fixture before too long. The 22-year-old middle infielder went 2-for-5 with a two-run single and a stolen base against the Brewers, his third multi-hit game in his last five. Barreto is batting .306 with a .944 OPS in 49 spring at-bats.
Barreto's teammate and A's No. 11 prospect Sheldon Neuse also went 2-for-4 in the game, continuing his strong showing this spring. The 23-year-old third baseman is now hitting .320 in his 50 Spring Training at-bats with a 1.073 OPS.
• Cardinals No. 5 prospect Harrison Bader had a breakout defensive game last week with a pair of diving catches in center field, and now he's had a breakout offensive game. The 23-year-old went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles against the Marlins, his best game of what had already been a solid Spring Training. Bader is now hitting .319 in 47 at-bats.
• Nationals No. 12 prospect Andrew Stevenson homered in his only at-bat against the Astros, the 23-year-old outfielder's second of the spring -- and it came against Houston closer Ken Giles.
Stevenson's teammate and Washington's No. 4 prospect Erick Fedde had a strong outing on the mound. The 25-year-old right-hander pitched two scoreless innings against the defending World Series, including retiring reigning American League MVP José Altuve.
• Pirates No. 9 prospect Kevin Kramer has been having a solid Spring Training swinging the bat -- in his 19 at-bats, he's hitting .316 with a 1.395 OPS -- but he turned heads on Wednesday with his defense. The 24-year-old, ranked baseball's No. 10 second-base prospect, made a diving stop up the middle to take a hit away from the Twins' Gregorio Petit.
• Padres No. 17 prospect Hudson Potts, who's just 19 years old, crushed his first Spring Training home run off of White Sox reliever Juan Minaya. The young third baseman and shortstop hasn't gotten a ton of action this spring, but he is 3-for-7 at the plate.
• In the same game that Kingery launched his home run, Phillies No. 17 prospect Roman Quinn also had a fine day at the plate. The 24-year-old outfielder went 2-for-4 -- his first multi-hit game of the spring -- and also stole a base.
• Red Sox No. 23 prospect Bobby Poyner, who could still be in the mix for an Opening Day spot in Boston's bullpen, pitched another strong relief outing. The 25-year-old left-hander tossed two scoreless innings and collected three strikeouts against the Rays. Poyner's having a lights-out spring, with a 0.96 ERA in 9 1/3 innings over nine games.
• Out of the opposing dugout, Rays No. 26 prospect Ryan Yarbrough turned in a fine start against the Sox. The 26-year-old lefty allowed only one run on two hits in his three innings of work, and he struck out five. Yarbrough now has a 2.63 ERA in 13 2/3 Spring Training innings.