Phillies 10, Pirates 4: Darick Hall goes yard twice; Scott Kingery keeps making a case for a roster spot
Hall's blasts came off a lefty, something he struggled with last season.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — The ball was flying at BayCare Ballpark in the Phillies’ 10-4 Grapefruit League win over the Pirates on Friday afternoon. Pirates hitters Oneil Cruz and Travis Swaggerty hit home runs off of Phillies starter Zack Wheeler, and five Phillies hitters hit home runs: Scott Kingery, Rhys Hoskins, Will Toffey, Jhailyn Ortiz, and first baseman/DH Darick Hall, who went yard not once, but twice.
Even more encouraging, in Hall’s case, was that the slugger hit a home run against a left-handed pitcher. Part of his focus this offseason was to even out his right-left splits, which were drastically different in his rookie season last year (he batted .266 in 124 at-bats against righties and .083 in 12 at-bats against lefties).
Kingery also is making a case for himself to earn a spot on the 26-man roster. The utility man is slugging .444/.524/.611 in eight Grapefruit League games this spring, with a 1.135 OPS. Kingery is in the final year of his $24 million contract.
» READ MORE: Speaking from experience, Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola offers injury advice to Andrew Painter
Quotable: “We’re seeing who the guy was a couple of years ago, and that guy is kind of special,” manager Rob Thomson said of Kingery. “Because he can play everywhere, he can run, he can steal bases. He can do a lot of things. Very dynamic. And with [Darick] Hall — he’s hitting lefties now, he’s hitting righties. It’s pretty impressive.”
On the mound: Zack Wheeler made his third start of the spring. He pitched three innings, allowing three runs on five hits with one walk, two home runs and two strikeouts. He threw 52 pitches, 35 of them strikes.
On deck: Left-handed pitcher Michael Plassmeyer will take the mound for the Phillies against Yankees’ pitcher Domingo Germán on Saturday in Tampa, Fla. The game will be broadcast on 94 WIP.