Philadelphia Phillies: How to address the Scott Kingery situation?

How should the Philadelphia Phillies continue to maximize the impact of Scott Kingery following his hot start to the 2019 season?

The Philadelphia Phillies are off to a hot 11-6 start after taking two of three from the New York Mets. Much of the Phillies success in that series has been thanks to the strong play of infielder Scott Kingery, who launched two home runs in that series.

Through 17 games, Kingery is slashing .524, with two home runs and five runs batted in. After playing sparingly to start the season, he has received more opportunities of late and has taken advantage of them.

Kingery did struggle in 2018, but much of that was him getting accustomed to major league pitching. He looks much more comfortable thus far, and if that trend can continue, then he will validate the big deal the Phillies gave him prior to his major league debut last season.

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At this point, Kingery needs to be seeing playing time every day, and if he continues to reach base consistently then he will force Gabe Kapler into playing him every day.  But, how should the Phillies go about getting Kingery playing time?

For right now, Kingery will get reps at shortstop while Jean Segura recovers from his hamstring pull. But once Segura is healthy enough to come back, he will be starting back at shortstop, and deservedly so as he is the Phillies best pure hitter.

Kapler could pull a little platoon at third base between Kingery and Maikel Franco, as well as with Cesar Hernandez at second base. It is difficult to justify sitting Franco as he leads the team in both home runs and RBIs, all from the eight hole.

It would be more justified to let Kingery play over Cesar given Hernandez’s slow start. But, Hernandez has turned it on as of late and appears to be heating up as he senses Kingery coming at his job.

Kingery and Hernandez both playing well could possibly be the best case scenario for the Phillies as it makes Hernandez tradeable, knowing that Kingery could step in and be the every day second basemen. It would also give Hernandez more value on the trade market.

The Phillies have been rumored to be interested in Texas Rangers pitcher Mike Minor, and Hernandez, along with Nick Williams, could be assets used in that trade. Another name to pay attention to is Madison Bumgarner, and Hernandez could be used in that trade.

So for right now, the Phillies will look to get Kingery involved as much as possible, and if he and Cesar continue to both play well, then Hernandez could be used to upgrade the rotation and Kingery could slide in and help add to the Phillies offense.