Philadelphia Phillies: Could Scott Kingery help to maximize Maikel Franco’s bat?

After watching Cesar Hernandez struggle at the plate, could Scott Kingery help to maximize Maikel Franco’s scoring potential for the Philadelphia Phillies?

After eight straight games with the same eight starters, the Philadelphia Phillies finally decided to shake up their starting lineup by giving Scott Kingery his first start of the season at second base.

And while he wasn’t the star of the game, that honor goes to Rhys Hoskins (more on that here), Kingery’s play was surprisingly encouraging.

In four trips to the plate, the same number he’d received over the first eight games of the season, Kingery had two hits, a walk, and a strikeout. While those numbers aren’t exactly jumping off the page, they are statistically more effective than Cesar Hernandez‘s numbers so far this season; as the 28-year-old has only hit five balls on 38 at-bats in 2019.

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That’s a big reason why Kingery earned a start in the first place; Hernandez’s slumping bat.

Now granted, Hernandez hasn’t been a total slouch this season, as the speedy second baseman is still arguably the team’s most athletic infielder, but if he continues to struggle at the plate, his accomplishments at the bag will quickly get overlooked, even hitting in the seven-hole.

Because of Hernandez’s lack of success at the plate, having only hit in four games so far this season, Maikel Franco has consistently come to the plate with no batter on base. While this clearly hasn’t quieted his bat, as Franco has gone off four home runs at the time of this article’s writing, he’s only recorded 11 RBIs.

If the Phillies are truly going to emulate their 1-4 batters 5-8, they need to get more consistent production out of their seventh hole.

But is that too much to ask? I mean most teams’ bottom of the order batters go down 1-2-3 and essentially turn the lineup over for a fresh start in the following inning, but as of right now, Franco is on pace to be among the best eight-hole hitters in MLB history, and could give the team an additional slugger where most teams have a lull.

While one could applaud having that sort of secret weapon right before the pitcher, his potential won’t be truly realized without a better batter leading into his at-bat.

Is Kingery the second coming of Chase Utley at second base? Probably not, as despite being only 25-years-old it doesn’t seem like ‘Scotty Jetpack’ has that sort of ceiling, but after showing an ability to get on base and work a count in his first start of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies, it may be worth giving the second-year pro an extended look in the starting lineup moving forward if Cesar Herandez continues to struggle.