After disappointing spring training performances, the Philadelphia Phillies have demoted centerfield batter Scott Kingery to the minor leagues.

In just 15 spring training games, the 26-year-old batter has fallen from the team’s graces. The centerfielder has posted a disappointing .159 batting average, 19 strikeouts and just seven hits. The Phillies had high hopes on the young batter to rebound after he had a bad 2020 season. However, that rebound has not come to fruition, and the team decided it was better to demote him.

Kingery was drafted in the second round of the 2015 MLB Draft by Philadelphia. From 2016-2018 in the minors, the batter showed consistent numbers before being recalled and resigned by the Phillies. Kingery recorded batting averages of .250, .281 and .304 in the following seasons in the minors, prior to being called up to the Majors.

In 2018, the batter signed a six-year contract with guaranteed $24 million, and three club options for 2024, 2025 and 2026 seasons. The contract was the biggest for a player who had not played a game in the Majors. For the 2018-2019 season, Kingery was named to the majors.

As a rookie, Kingery had a .266 batting average, 35 home runs, 102 hits and eight RBI’s. In 2019 his numbers improved and he had a batting average of .258, 118 hits, 19 home runs and 55 RBI’s. However, the 2020 season was not kind for the young batter – last season proved to be the worst of his career so far.

Kingery played in 36 games in the of last year’s shortened-pandemic season, but he had issues hitting the ball. The 26-year-old finished the season with a batting average of .159, 18 hits and 35 strikeouts. It was a disappointing season for the young player, but the team had hopes that this spring training he would be able to improve. Instead, it did not and his batting woes continued.

The Phillies decided that it would be best to send the batter back to the minors for more development. Now, the Opening Day center-field spot will go to either Odubel Herrera or Roman Quinn.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen suffered an apparent knee injury on Monday night against the San Diego Padres. He was hurt earlier in the first inning of the game and did not return.

The Padres won the game 8-2. McCutchen was caught between first and second base, trying to avoid being tagged out by spinning away from one of the Padres’ players when his knee twisted up.

The Phillies are already in a pickle with several holes in the outfield. Odubel Herrera is still on standby after his domestic violence arrest after an alleged incident between him and his girlfriend. Herrera is currently placed on administrative leave by the MLB offices during the investigation. The Phillies acquired outfielder Jay Bruce from the Seattle Mariners because of this incident, and now, McCutchen will have to sit out indefinitely. McCutchen walked off after the injury, but it could still be serious. According to CBS Sports, you can usually walk in a straight forward line even on a torn ACL. The pain will be there but it’s not impossible to walk straight. With it being a non-contact injury as well, that usually means it could be a muscle tear or other similar issue. 

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“I didn’t feel it pop or anything,” McCutchen said, according to Fox News.  “Something felt uncomfortable, something that made me grab my knee and go down. I’ve had an ACL injury before and I know what that feels like. This didn’t feel like that.” McCutchen underwent an MRI Tuesday to follow up.

McCutchen has a .256 batting average this season, with 10 home runs in 59 appearances. The Phillies still have Bryce Harper in the outfield, with his world-record-breaking 13-year, $330 million contract. The Phillies are currently top of the NL East, just half a game ahead of the Atlanta Braves and 4.5 games ahead of the New York Mets.

The Philadelphia Phillies rewarded center fielder Odubel Herrera with a five-year contract extension with $30.5 million guaranteed on Thursday, one that could strongly benefit the team.

Odubel Herrera Signs Five-Year Extension With Phillies

The Venezuelan, who was set to become a free agent after 2020, instead gets a five-year deal with two club options that could keep him with Philadelphia through 2023. He will be 25 later this month.

The club options are in 2022 and 2023 at $11.5 million and $12.5 million. There is no no-trade clause.

Herrera, who hit .297 as a rookie in 2015, improved in his second season, controlling the strike zone better and developing some power.

He made the NL All-Star team in 2016, hitting .313 with a .462 on-base percentage in April and walking 34 times in the season’s first two months.

Overall, 286/.361/.420 in 656 plate appearances, with seven more homers (15) and nine more stolen bases (25) than he had in 2015. He walked 35 more times and cut his strikeout rate by nearly four percent.

In the last 20 years, the Phillies have twice reached contract deals with payers who have less than three years of major-league experience: Pat Burrell, in 2003, for $50 million; and Cole Hamels, following the 2008 World Series, for $20.5 million.

Both Burrell and Hamels had more than two years of service time when they re-signed.

Herrera hit a bit of a bump as the All-Star break neared, and his walk rate dropped significantly as the season progressed. He walked 29 times in 108 games from May 1-on.

Philadelphia selected Herrera eighth overall in the 2014 Rule 5 draft. Herrera, then a second baseman with the Texas Rangers’ farm system, was coming off a season in which he hit .321 at Double A and then .372 in the Venezuelan Winter League.

Earlier this year, Herrera was a finalist in Gold Glove voting.

Mike Trout, Mookie Betts, Melvin Upton Jr. and Herrera were the only four outfielders in the major leagues to hit at least 15 homers and steal at least 25 bases last season. Herrera’s six defensive runs saved ranked sixth among National League center fielders, according to Baseball Info Solutions.

MIAMI, FL – SEPTEMBER 06: Odubel Herrera #37 of the Philadelphia Phillies slides into third on a triple during a game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park on September 6, 2016 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)