It was a very offensive week in the Eastern League. Not only is it difficult on pitchers, it is equally difficult for me to choose who takes home the hardware. When it was all said and done, there was no way to look past the six bombs he hit. The Legends on Deck Eastern League Player of the Week is Scott Kingery of the Reading Fightin Phils.
Kingery registered three multi-hit games this past week, including a 4-for-5 performance against New Hampshire on Sunday. He also had two two-home run games (both against New Hampshire) at home. Kingery now sits atop the Eastern League in home runs (14), and is in the top 10 in many other offensive categories. On the week he went 10-for-33 (.303), scoring 10 runs, with a double, six home runs, and seven RBI.
The Philadelphia Phillies selected Kingery in the second round of the 2015 MLB draft out of the University of Arizona. He started his professional career with the Lakewood BlueClaws of the South Atlantic League. Last season he made it to Reading and played in 37 games hitting .250.
This season appears to be a completely different story. Kingery is currently hitting .290 and his 14 home runs so far this season are more than the previous seasons combined. He is currently ranked as the Phillies 11th prospect according to MLB.com. With the Phillies in their re-building phase, it will be interesting to see what they do with Kingery moving forward. He is definitely someone to keep your eye on.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
As I said the opening it was difficult to pick just one player for this weekly award. Altoona Curve teammates Connor Joe and Wyatt Mathisen went a combined 21-for-44, with nine runs, five doubles, two triples, a home run, and 8 RBI. One of the few pitchers to make the list was Altoona’s Montana DuRapau who picked up two saves and five strike outs.
Two Erie SeaWolves players, Christin Stewart and Gabriel Quintana each hit three home runs this week, with Quintana’s coming in one game. Harrisburg had a couple of possible reps for the Player of the Week honors in Jose Marmolejos and Drew Ward. Marmalejos went 13-for-29 with nine runs scored, two home runs, and 10 RBI. Ward drove in 10 more for the Sens’.
Hartford teammates Dillon Thomas and Josh Fuentes had a pretty good combined week as well. The pair went 21-for-51, with 14 runs, seven doubles, a triple, four blasts, and 12 RBI. Ryan McBroom (New Hampshire) and Gleyber Torres (Trenton) each hit three home runs this week as well.
Other than DuRapau, Wander Suero (Harrisburg) and James Farris (Hartford) each recorded a pair of saves on the pitching side of things.
John Ginder
John has recently graduated from the University at Albany with a B.A. in History and is currently finishing his Master's Degree there as well in secondary education. After being away from school for over two decades he decided to go back and work towards his dream of becoming a social studies teacher.
You must be logged in to post a comment.