Scott Kingery aiming for Friday return to Phillies' lineup
Despite escaping serious injury after getting hit by a pitch Tuesday night, Scott Kingery was absent from the Phillies' lineup for the series finale in Miami. He's hoping to play Friday night in Washington.
MIAMI — In the restless hours after a 98-mph fastball struck his right arm Tuesday night, Scott Kingery re-lived it by parking himself in front of a computer and watching the replay.
But here's what really made the Phillies rookie wince: Hearing it.
"I mean, it kind of hit me and I was like in a little bit of a shock," Kingery said Wednesday. "But in the video, it sounded like it hit bone. It echoes out there. It sounded a lot worse than it was."
Fortunately for Kingery, the pitch from Miami Marlins reliever Tayron Guerrero hit only muscle. And although Kingery's bruised biceps swelled up between the ninth and 10th innings, forcing him to exit an eventual 2-1 Phillies loss and keeping him out of the lineup here Wednesday night, it didn't require an X-ray or send him to the disabled list.
In fact, with a compression sleeve helping to decrease the swelling, Kingery was able to swing a bat and make some throws from shortstop when he arrived at the ballpark. But manager Gabe Kapler elected to keep him on the bench (Kingery was likely available as a pinch-hitter) and use Thursday's off day to maximize Kingery's recovery time before Friday night's opener of a three-game series in Washington.
With shortstop J.P. Crawford on the disabled list with a strained right forearm, infielder Pedro Florimon got the start at shortstop.
"I think the off day will be huge to just be able to not do anything, let it rest a little bit," Kingery said. "I think I should be good to go by the first game in D.C."
Kingery, who made the team after a stellar spring training in which he signed a six-year, $24 million contract, is batting .217 with a .277 on-base percentage, eight doubles and two home runs in 92 at-bats. He has only one extra-base hit in his last 14 games.
Hoskins strikes last
Leftfielder Rhys Hoskins lined a single to center field in the ninth inning, thereby avoiding becoming the 10th player in Phillies history to strike out five times in a game.
"I said it, I think, in Atlanta [a few weeks ago]: You've got to want the fifth at-bat," Hoskins said. "I made an adjustment the other way and it kind of locked me in, and I finally put a good swing on the ball."
Good swings have been difficult to find lately for Hoskins, who has 10 strikeouts and only two hits in 20 at-bats over his last five games.
"Felt really good for him," Kapler said. "We all know Rhys' history. His timing gets off a little bit like it did last year when he first came up and that leads to a really, really productive stretch. No doubt this little period where his timing is off is going to lead to a productive stretch and we'll hang in there with him until it does."
Extra bases
The Phillies went 2-for-2 on challenges and overturned a pair of calls that initially went in the Marlins' favor. For the season, the Phils have won nine of 10 challenges. … Centerfielder Odubel Herrera ran his on-base streak to 32 consecutive games after getting hit by a pitch in the first inning. … First baseman Carlos Santana's is 1-for-20 in his last six games. He's batting .151. … Righthanders Mark Leiter Jr. (forearm) and Jerad Eickhoff (upper back) are scheduled for their next live batting practice sessions on Thursday and Friday, respectively. … This weekend's series in Washington will be punctuated Sunday by a matchup of the last two NL Cy Young Award winners: Phillies righthander Jake Arrieta (3-1, 3.49 ERA) vs. Nationals righthander Max Scherzer (6-1, 1.79).