Phillies invite Scott Kingery and others to Clearwater for camp
Scott Kingery is nearly a lock to open the season in Allentown, but prior to buttoning up an IronPigs jersey, he'll spend some time in the Clearwater sun with a new set of Phillies coaches.

The 23-year-old is one of eight prospects the Phillies invited to camp Wednesday. He's also the closest of the group that profiles as an impact everyday contributor to the club. That said, with Cesar Hernandez returning it could be a little while before Kingery breaks into the Phillies starting lineup.

Along with Kingery, the club invited righthanders Enyel De Los Santos, Tom Eshelman and JD Hammer; lefties Cole Irvin and Brandon Leibrandt; catcher Edgar Cabral; and outfielder Andrew Pullin. Of the bunch, only Kingery and Pullin were invited to camp last year.

Of the pitchers, Eshelman has an outside shot at making the club out of camp, particularly if he pitches well and no one emerges from the stable of Ben Lively, Jake Thompson, Nick Pivetta, and others for the final spots in the starting rotation.

Eshelman made 23 starts last season for double-A Reading and triple-A Lehigh Valley. He logged 150.0 innings between the two levels and posted a 2.40 ERA with 102 strikeouts to just 18 walks. He also was the 2017 recipient of the Paul Owens Award, given annually to the best pitcher in the Phillies minor league system.

With the eight internal invites and the 10 non-roster invites announced last week the Phillies will enter camp with 58 players. Pitchers and catchers report Feb. 14.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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