Scott Kingery

Quick Hits: Kingery, Phillies, Chen, Tigers, Maitan

By Mark Polishuk | March 25, 2018 at 11:59pm CDT

It was on this day in 2013 that the Brewers signed Kyle Lohse to a three-year, $33MM contract, ending Lohse’s extended stay in the free agent market. The 2012-13 offseason was the first to feature the qualifying offer in its original form, and the draft pick compensation (a first-round pick, or the highest available pick for a team with one of the top ten draft spots) attached to Lohse’s services seemed to chill the market for the veteran right-hander. Lohse became the first of several notable players whose free agency was impacted by the QO in the coming years, and even in its adjusted form under the new collective bargaining agreement, the qualifying certainly still acted as a seeming deterrent for several free agents this offseason. The Brewers, it should be noted, ended up getting a pretty solid return on their investment, as Lohse posted a 3.45 ERA and 3.28 K/BB rate over 397 innings in 2013-14 before declining in the final year of the contract.

Some items from around baseball…

Talks about Scott Kingery’s precedent-setting extension with the Phillies came together within the last few days, The Athletic’s Matt Gelb writes (subscription required). The team had been planning to keep Kingery at Triple-A long enough (April 13) to limit his service time and thus gain and extra year of control over his services. At a guaranteed price of $24MM over six years, the Phillies see the contract “as a no-risk transaction,” as it isn’t too heavy a sum to eat if Kingery doesn’t live up to expectations as a big leaguer, though the organization is very high on the prospect as an important building block.
Of course, the Kingery deal was bound to generate some controversy given that he could be leaving a lot of future money on the table should he play well. Speaking to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required), one rival agent described the contract’s three club options as “offensive,” given that the Phillies could control Kingery’s first three free agent years at a total price of $42MM, which surely won’t match the rate of market inflation by 2024-26. Rosenthal’s notes piece is well worth a full read, as he catches up on some of the bigger stories of the past six weeks that he missed while recovering from back surgery. (On behalf of all of us at MLBTR, it’s great to see Ken recovered and ready to go for the start of the season!)
Wei-Yin Chen faced live hitters in a 16-pitch batting practice session today, and the Marlins southpaw told reporters (including MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro) that it “felt like the old days,” prior to the elbow problems that have plagued him over the last two seasons. Chen has been gradually moving through the recovery process, with today’s session being his first test against actual batters. Without any injury setbacks, Chen could begin a proper ramp-up to the season and potentially return to Miami’s rotation by May, at the earliest.
The Tigers aren’t planning to make a trade to account for Mike Fiers’ potential DL stint, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi tweets. The team already has Daniel Norris as an in-house replacement, plus Fiers isn’t expected to miss much time recovering from the back problems that have hampered him all spring.
Kevin Maitan’s prospect stock was already dimming after a difficult first full pro season, and the former Braves prospect has continued to draw mixed reviews from scouts in his first Spring Training with the Angels, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper writes. Though Maitan is still just 18 years old, scouts already believe his body type won’t allow him to remain at shortstop, and he may also be too big even to handle third base. This puts more pressure on Maitan to hit if he isn’t going to play at a premium defensive position, and evaluators also have some questions about Maitan’s swing. pessimistic

Phillies Sign Scott Kingery To Long-Term Deal

By Connor Byrne | March 25, 2018 at 2:51pm CDT

2:51pm: The contract includes a $1.5MM signing bonus, per Gelb, who also has the yearly breakdown. Kingery will earn $750K this year, $1.25MM in 2019, $1.5MM in 2020, $4MM in 2021, $6MM in 2022 and $8MM in 2023. Additionally, there’s a $1MM buyout for the first option, $500K for the second, and $250K for the third, per Jon Heyman of Fan Rag (via Twitter).

2:14pm: The Phillies have signed second base prospect Scott Kingery to a six-year contract through the 2023 campaign, according to a team announcement. It’s worth $24MM in guarantees, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets. The pact also features club options for the 2024, ’25 and ’26 seasons, meaning it could cancel out three of Kingery’s free-agent years. Those options are worth $13MM, $14MM and $15MM, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN reports. Kingery is a client of PSI Sports Management.

Kingery’s payday is a record-breaking amount for a player who has never appeared in the majors, easily beating out the five-year, $10MM guarantee the Astros gave first baseman Jon Singleton (an ex-Phillies prospect) back in 2014. Kingery and Singleton are the only two players to ever receive long-term deals before debuting in the majors. The Singleton contract hasn’t worked out at all for the Astros, but the Phillies weren’t going to let that deter them from wrapping up Kingery for the long haul.

The news of the 23-year-old Kingery’s accord comes on the heels of his first big league promotion, which was reported earlier Sunday. Service time looked to be a concern prior to the announcement of the deal, but that obviously won’t be an issue now for the Phillies, who expect Kingery to emerge as an important major leaguer this season.

Kingery, who joined the Phillies in Round 2 of the 2015 draft, saw his stock soar last year after slashing .313/.379/.608 (166 wRC+) with 18 home runs and 19 stolen bases in 317 Double-A plate appearances. The righty-swinger earned a promotion to Triple-A as a result of that production and also performed well at that level, where he batted .294/.337/.449 (117 wRC+) with eight homers and 10 steals in 286 PAs.

Thanks to his breakout 2017 showing, Kingery ranks as MLB.com’s 35th-best prospect. The outlet lauds his “advanced approach” at the plate and “plus speed,” noting that he has the upside of an everyday second baseman. The Phillies already have a quality second baseman in Cesar Hernandez, who accounted for 7.6 fWAR from 2016-17, so it’s unclear how often Kingery will play there in the near term.

Even if Hernandez continues to hold down the keystone for the time being, Kingery could factor in elsewhere. Although nearly all of Kingery’s minor league action came at second, manager Gabe Kapler suggested earlier this spring that the player could fill a super-utility role in the majors (via Matt Gelb of The Athletic; subscription required).

“He can play in the big leagues at many different positions,” Kapler said. “He can play second base, he can play shortstop, he can play centerfield. There’s no doubt in my mind that he can handle third base. He can handle both corners. In theory, that’s an exciting role for Scott.”

For the most part, the Phillies look well positioned in the infield (depth chart), where big-money first baseman Carlos Santana and touted shortstop prospect J.P. Crawford will join Hernandez in starting roles. Third baseman Maikel Franco has been a disappointment, however, and could cede his spot to Kingery if he continues to struggle this year. The Phillies are also talented in the outfield, where slugger Rhys Hoskins will play left and Odubel Herrera will continue to handle center. Right field’s less certain, although both Nick Williams and Aaron Altherr impressed last season.

Regardless of where Kingery lines up in 2018 and beyond, it’s obvious the Phillies regard him as an integral core piece and someone who can help them return to relevance. Philadelphia is mired in a six-year playoff drought and hasn’t finished .500 or better since 2012. The franchise looks to be on the upswing, though, in part because of Kingery’s potential.

Along with Kingery and the rest of the Phillies’ previously mentioned talent on the position player side, they made a bold strike in free agency in signing former Cubs ace Jake Arrieta to a three-year, $75MM contract. They also have budding star righty Aaron Nola under control through 2021. Plus, given that the Phillies have the capability to spend among the league’s top teams (as seen with the Santana and Arrieta signings), they should be in play for other established free agents in future offseasons.

Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia first reported the news. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NL East Notes: Nationals, Kingery, Braves

By Mark Polishuk | March 4, 2018 at 3:09pm CDT

Some rumblings from around the National League East…

The Nationals would still like to add another Major League catcher to their roster, MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports. Catcher is the only true weak spot on Washington’s depth chart, due to Matt Wieters’ rough 2017 season and Pedro Severino’s lack of hitting at the MLB level (or even in the minors). Miguel Montero is also in camp on a non-roster invite but is also coming off a poor 2017. The Nats are known to have explored trade talks with the Marlins about J.T. Realmuto, and if Realmuto or another catcher can’t be obtained in a trade, D.C. could consider signing a catcher who becomes available in late-Spring Training roster shuffling, or perhaps a bigger-name free agent like the still-available Jonathan Lucroy.
Scott Kingery is turning a lot of heads in the Phillies’ spring camp, and there’s a chance the second base prospect could crack the Opening Day roster, Matt Gelb of The Athletic writes (subscription required). Manager Gabe Kapler considers Kingery capable of playing several different positions, so a super-utility role would get Kingery in the lineup even with Cesar Hernandez still the regular second baseman. Service time considerations, however, could keep Kingery at Triple-A to begin the season, though there are also some legitimate skills-related arguments to be made that the prospect still need more minor league seasoning.
Though the Braves enjoyed a 47 percent increase in revenues from 2016 to 2017 thanks to the opening of SunTrust Park, the team projects to have a smaller payroll next season than it did in 2017, Tim Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. The Braves had long intended to time the opening of their new stadium to coincide with the end of their rebuilding plan, though this offseason been a very quiet one for the team, save for a big payroll-shuffling trade with the Dodgers. Of course, Atlanta’s plans were entirely upended by the shocking departures of both former GM John Coppolella and former president of baseball operations John Hart, so perhaps it isn’t surprising that the franchise held back on any aggressive moves. New general manager Alex Anthopoulos even stated in December that he would likely take “a more cautious approach” in his first year running the front office.

Trade Chatter: Machado, Phils, Yanks, Bucs, Cole, Ellsbury, Tigers, Brewers

By Connor Byrne | December 11, 2017 at 4:59pm CDT

Should the Orioles decide to trade superstar third baseman Manny Machado prior to 2018, his contract year, they could find a taker in Philadelphia. The Phillies are among “the more interested parties” in Machado, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. The Orioles have studied the Phillies’ farm system in the event of a deal, and they now “covet” right-hander Sixto Sanchez (Baseball America’s 61st-best prospect), per Kubatko. Second base prospect Scott Kingery and major league shortstop Freddy Galvis could also be involved in a potential trade, Kubatko writes. But a swap would require a 72-hour window for the Phillies to extend the 25-year-old Machado, according to Kubatko, and hammering out an agreement could be a tall order given that he’s so close to hitting the open market.

More of the latest trade chatter:

The Yankees reportedly came away from talks with the Pirates with the impression that they won’t move righty Gerrit Cole. However, the Pirates are at least willing to listen to offers for Cole, per Buster Olney of ESPN (Twitter link). The Yankees and Bucs match up well for a potential Cole trade, sources tell Olney, who notes that Bombers general manager Brian Cashman and the Pirates’ Neal Huntington have swung plenty of deals in the past.
In the wake of the Giancarlo Stanton acquisition, the Yankees are loaded with outfielders. Although that seems to be bad news for Jacoby Ellsbury, who’s toward the bottom of the Yankees’ current outfield depth chart, he’s still “unlikely” to waive his no-trade clause, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweets. The belief is that the Yankees would eat roughly half of the $68MM to jettison Ellsbury, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag, but it could be a moot point if he’s unwilling to go anywhere. And Cashman said Monday that Ellsbury “has a spot on the roster” and “will compete to take his job back,” Alex Speier of the Boston Globe relays (Twitter link). On the other hand, if the Yankees make 23-year-old outfielder Clint Frazier available, the Athletics would unquestionably have interest, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports (via Twitter). However, the price to acquire Frazier would likely be too high, Slusser adds.
The Tigers expect to deal second baseman Ian Kinsler, GM Al Avila told Evan Woodbery of MLive.com and other reporters (Twitter link). Meanwhile, they’ve gotten “mild inquiries” on arguably their most valuable trade chip – righty Michael Fulmer – but they’re not actively shopping him (via Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press, on Twitter). “There are a handful of teams out there that have the players to do it, but we have not come close to those conversations,” Avila said of a potential Fulmer trade (Twitter link via Jason Beck of MLB.com).
While the Brewers are listening to offers for outfielder Domingo Santana, there’s not a lot of traction in trade talks, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN tweets. The Brewers want “an affordable impact starter” for Santana, Crasnick suggests. GM David Stearns told reporters Monday that “if we’re going to even consider trading someone who is such an important part of our team, we are going to expect a sizable return” (via Adam McCalvy of MLB.com, on Twitter).

Phillies Notes: Galvis, Hernandez, Bowa, Mackanin

By Steve Adams | October 2, 2017 at 8:31am CDT

Freddy Galvis’ pinch-hit double for the Phillies on Sunday may very well have been his final plate appearance with the team, writes CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury. Top prospect J.P. Crawford arrived in the Majors in September, and while he hardly set the world on fire with the bat (.214/.356/.300 in 87 plate appearances), he still could land the team’s Opening Day shortstop job next year. It’s likely that general manager Matt Klentak will shop both Galvis and second baseman Cesar Hernandez this winter, writes Salisbury, as the team will want to get a look at its potential middle infield of the future — Crawford and top second base prospect Scott Kingery — in 2018.

Galvis, 27, posted an uninspiring .255/.309/.382 batting line in 2017 but played in all 162 games and has generally received strong marks for his glovework at short. He’ll be due a raise on this year’s $4.35MM salary and is controlled through 2018. Hernandez, meanwhile, posted a .294 average that is identical to his 2016 mark with a .373 OBP (up marginally from .371) with improved power output. After slugging .393 last year, the 27-year-old slugged .421 with 26 doubles, six triples and nine homers in 2017. A solid defender himself, Hernandez is controlled through 2020 and will be arb-eligible for the first time this winter.

NL East Notes: Gordon, Joseph, Kingery, Ross

By Mark Polishuk | July 9, 2017 at 6:34pm CDT

Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon is drawing trade interest from three teams, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports (via Twitter). The Fish are known to be open to discussing any player under a long-term contract as they look to be deadline sellers, and Gordon is locked up through 2020 on an extension that will pay him $37MM in salary over the next three seasons, plus a $14MM club option for 2021 that carries a $1MM buyout. (Gordon also has roughly $3MM left to be paid in this season’s salary.) After a lost 2016 season that included an 80-game PED suspension, Gordon is hitting .298/.346/.363 in 368 PA this year, though the bulk of his value has come in the form of baserunning (31 steals in 37 attempts) and strong second base defense. Gordon projects as a long-term asset rather than a deadline rental for interested clubs, which leads to some intriguing speculation about his potential market. Several contenders and pseudo-contenders would use a boost in second base production, though some of those teams near the bottom of the list already have long-term second basemen who are simply underperforming.

Here’s more from around the NL East…

The Phillies have made first baseman Tommy Joseph available in trade talks, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury reports. With prospect Rhys Hoskins raking at Triple-A, it has widely been expected that Joseph would be available at the deadline given that the two primary first basemen can’t really co-exist in the same lineup. After a very rough start to the season, Joseph has recovered to post a .252/.313/.466 slash line and 15 homers through 323 plate appearances. Though Joseph is 26, controllable through the 2022 season and has shown some solid power in his brief big league career, it is thought that the Phillies may only be able to get good value for him in a trade if packaged with a rental player.
While Hoskins seems very likely to get an audition in the big leagues this season, Phillies second base prospect Scott Kingery may remain at Triple-A in 2017, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Daily News writes. Though Kingery only has 12 Triple-A games under his belt, roster logistics could be the main reason Kingery probably won’t see the Show in 2017. If the Phils leave Kingery at Triple-A all year, they wouldn’t have to add him to the 40-man roster and thus protect him during the Rule 5 Draft in December. Over 371 combined PA at the Double-A and Triple-A levels, Kingery is hitting .312/.371/.606 with 22 home runs.
Nationals righty Joe Ross was removed during the fourth inning of his start today after experiencing a notable drop in velocity during the game. Ross hadn’t been pitching well (three ER in 3 1/3 IP), though his removal came with one out and nobody on in the fourth inning, and Washington’s team trainer accompanied Dusty Baker and pitching coach Mike Maddux to the mound. Baker described the injury as “triceps tenderness” in his postgame talk with MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman and other reporters. Ross had has an inconsistent season that saw him demoted to Triple-A for a brief spell, and the young right-hander has a 4.86 ERA for the Nats, thanks in large part to 15 homers allowed in just 70 1/3 IP. Ross missed roughly 10 weeks last season due to shoulder soreness.

Injury Notes: Stanton, Hernandez, Dozier

By charliewilmoth | June 10, 2017 at 4:06pm CDT

Here are a few notes on developing injury situations throughout the league.

Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton left today’s game with what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury after being struck by a 95-MPH fastball by Trevor Williams of the Pirates, Tim Healey of the South Florida Sun Sentinel and other reporters have noted. It appears, however, that Stanton and the Marlins have lucked out, as the team announced after the game that X-rays were negative and that Stanton only has a hand contusion. He is day-to-day. Losing Stanton would have been a significant blow to the Marlins — he’s in the midst of a healthy and terrific .288/.365/.566 season, and the team, as Healey notes, is already dealing with injuries to lineup regulars Justin Bour, Adeiny Hechavarria and Martin Prado.
Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez suffered an oblique or abdominal injury on Friday and appears likely to head to the disabled list, CSNPhilly.com’s Jim Salisbury writes. Hernandez was not placed on the DL before today’s game, but he was not in the lineup. As Salisbury notes, the Phillies do have a good second base prospect in Scott Kingery who’s batting .304/.379/.621 at Double-A Reading, although Kingery has not yet played at Triple-A, so it’s unclear whether they would see him as a candidate to play second at the big-league level if Hernandez were to miss significant time.
The Royals have announced that OF/3B Hunter Dozier has been placed on the minor-league DL with a hamate fracture. Dozier, the eighth overall pick in the 2013 draft, currently ranks as the Royals’ top prospect, according to MLB.com. But he’s had a rough 2017 season, missing almost two months to start the season with an oblique strain and now dealing with his hamate issue, which will likely cause him to miss several weeks. Dozier batted .294/.357/.506 for Triple-A Omaha last season.

Phillies To Sign Top Picks Randolph, Kingery

By Steve Adams | June 16, 2015 at 1:30pm CDT

1:30pm: The Phillies announced that they have reached agreement with a number of draft choices, including second-round pick Scott Kingery, as Todd Zolecki of MLB.com writes. Kingery’s deal is for the full value of his selection, netting him a ~$1.26MM bonus, according to MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo (on Twitter).

Kingery, a second baseman out of the University of Arizona, was tapped with the No. 48 overall pick. Prior to the draft, Kingery took some time to chat with MLBTR’s Zach Links for a comprehensive Q&A about his skill set and collegiate career. Kingery’s story is a unique one as he went from an undersized walk-on for the Wildcats to becoming one of their premier talents. The youngster told MLBTR that he received no scholarship offers coming out of high school and he did not envision a major league future for himself back in 2012.

“Definitely not. That’s not something that I had in mind going into my freshman year, especially as a walk-on player. I didn’t have a spot on the roster yet for sure, so at that point, I was just trying to find a spot on the team,” Kingery told Links.

Kingery is being advised by David Matranga of PSI Sports.

1:08pm: The Phillies have agreed to sign first-round selection Cornelius Randolph for the full slot value of $3,231,300, reports MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter links). Selected 10th overall, Randolph was advised by and is now represented by Scott Boras. MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki tells Callis that the Phillies plan to move Randolph from the infield to the outfield, and Callis notes that Randolph’s bat “will play anywhere.”

A high school shortstop that had committed to Clemson, Randolph’s defense was questioned by many scouts heading into the draft. That did little to detract from the allure of his bat, however. Randolph ranked as the draft’s No. 11 prospect in the eyes of Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel, 19th on the Top 200 compiled by Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, 20th on Baseball America’s Top 500 and 29th on the Top 100 of ESPN’s Keith Law.

McDaniel praised Randolph’s above-average hitting ability, raw power and strong arm when calling him “maybe the best of a deep crop in the Georgia prep ranks.” Mayo and Callis wrote that 6’1″, 190-pound Randolph “has the tools and approach to hit for power and average.” BA praised his bat speed and the ability to hit for all fields, noting that while scouts are “sure” that Randolph isn’t a shortstop, his home on the diamond could be in left field or at third base. ESPN feels that he profiles as a middle-of-the-order bat but cautions that there could be more swing-and-miss to his game than his mechanics would indicate at first glance.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Q&A With MLB Draft Prospect Scott Kingery

By Zachary Links | June 7, 2015 at 12:45pm CDT

The 2015 MLB Draft begins on Monday, June 8th and runs until Wednesday, June 10th. In anticipation of the draft, MLBTR caught up with University of Arizona second baseman Scott Kingery, one of the most highly regarded players in this year’s class.

Tomorrow night, Arizona second baseman Scott Kingery will be waiting to hear his name called from Secaucus, New Jersey. Just three years ago, few could have imagined that Kingery would be in line to be a Day 1 draft pick or to even get drafted at all. Kingery was a very solid player coming out of Phoenix, Arizona’s Mountain Pointe High School, but he was overlooked by schools largely because he was only 5’7″ tall.

Kingery arrived at the University of Arizona as a walk-on, made the team, and started really making a name for himself in his sophomore year. An awful lot has changed over the last three years – not just Kingery’s stature. Today, he is rated as the No. 25 draft prospect in the country by ESPN.com’s Keith Law, No. 40 by Baseball America, and No. 42 by Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com. Kingery took some time out of his busy schedule late last week to chat with MLB Trade Rumors about his career at Arizona, his draft stock, and his MLB future.

Zach Links: It’s pretty rare to see a college walk-on go on to become a top draft prospect. In 2012, did you think you’d be in this position today?

Scott Kingery: Definitely not. That’s not something that I had in mind going into my freshman year, especially as a walk-on player. I didn’t have a spot on the roster yet for sure, so at that point, I was just trying to find a spot on the team.

It was pretty late in the summer when an assistant coach came down to watch me play in a tournament. They offered me a recruited walk-on spot, which means that you have a place on the fall roster but nothing is guaranteed for the spring roster. So, I wasn’t thinking about the majors at all at that point.

ZL: Did you consider taking scholarship offers from other schools, whether it was D-I or D-II?

SK: I was committed to going to a junior college in Arizona, but other than that, I didn’t have any D-I, D-II, or D-III offers for baseball. So, it was pretty much go to junior college or just take my chances at Arizona.

ZL: You turned the corner in a big way from your freshman year to your sophomore year. What changed for you?

SK: I think each year you play in the Pac-12 you just get a little bit more confident. I gained experience and I learned a lot. I think in your first year as a freshman you come in and don’t know what to expect. The level of play from high school to college increases so much. But, I learned more and more each year and built off of that.

ZL: Your double play partner, Kevin Newman, is considered to be one of the very best draft prospects in this year’s class. Did you feel like you’ve pushed each other over the years to excel?

SK: Yeah, when I was in the outfield the first few years I didn’t spent that much time with him. Now I’m at second base and we push each other and that helps us play better. This year he become one of my roommates and that’s when I realized how truly competitive we are with each other. Literally everything is a competition between us.

ZL: How does that competitive spirit between the two of you manifest itself off the field?

SK: If it’s video games, we’re competing. One night we were mini golfing and it got intense. We started even having competitions in the weight room and seeing who could get to school the fastest.

ZL: You played second base while at Arizona but there has been talk of your skills translating to shortstop. Could you see yourself playing shortstop at the big league level? How comfortable are you at shortstop?

SK: Since I haven’t been there in a few years, I think it would take some getting used to again. But that was my home all through high school. College is the only time I haven’t played there really…I think I could definitely play shortstop. I think a lot of teams want to see me try that out, too. If it doesn’t work, they can always throw me back to second base.

ZL: Do you have a preference between playing shortstop or second base?

SK: I’ve always loved playing shortstop more but playing second base isn’t too bad either.

ZL: Why do you like playing shortstop more?

SK: I don’t know why, but that’s just always been where I’ve been the most comfortable. I grew up playing that position and I just want to get back over there. When you’re at shortstop you feel like you’re kind of in the head role, kind of captain on the field. I’d like to get back to that.

ZL: There always seems to be skepticism surrounding shorter players, even when they’ve proven their ability time and time again like you have. Do you feel like any concern about you being under 6-feet tall is overblown?

SK: At this point, I don’t think that’s gonna come into play, but that was definitely one of the big reasons why I didn’t get a scholarship offer out of high school. I was 5’7″, 150 pounds heading into college so I think everyone saw that small stature and they didn’t want to take a chance. Now, I think I’ve proven myself over multiple years so I don’t think that my small stature matters much. Also, I’m 5’10.5″ now and I’ve put on 25 or 30 pounds, so it’s a different story.

ZL: What are you hearing about where you might get drafted?

SK: It’s kind of all over the place, but I’ve been hearing and reading that it could be somewhere in the No. 20-50 range. Hopefully I’ll get drafted towards the top of that, but, we’ll see. Anything can happen.

ZL: What do you think sets you apart from other middle infielders in this class?

SK: I’ve proven that I can hit at multiple levels. I did it in college and I did it in the Cape Cod league. That, along with my speed, sets me apart. I’ve shown that I can create havoc on the basepaths with my speed and my bat really just improved each year at Arizona. I also got even more comfortable with my range this year and I made things happen on defense as well.

ZL: What’s the main thing you want to work on?

SK: I want to work on my footwork at second base because that can always get better. I also want to make sure that I stay aggressive at second base. It’s a short throw so sometimes you can find yourself getting complacent and sitting back on a ball rather than getting the right hop. I like to be aggressive and get right to the ball.

ZL: Last summer in the Cape Cod League, you showed that you can still rake with a wooden bat. Do you sense that has helped your draft stock somewhat?

SK: Definitely. The top players in college are in the Cape Cod league so going there, facing that pitching, and putting up some good numbers really shows the scouts that I have a good swing and that it doesn’t matter if I’m swinging wood or metal.

ZL: Everyone loves to compare draft prospects to current players. What major league player would you say that your skill set is similar to?

SK: I’d say I’m something like Ian Kinsler, with a little bit more speed.

ZL: What are your plans for draft night?

SK: I’m just going to have some friends and family over. We’ll be watching on TV with everyone else, waiting to see what happens.

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