TAMPA – Everybody watching Scott Kingery this spring seems to be saying the same thing.

He looks different.

Better.

The Phillies played their 15th Grapefruit League game on Saturday in a 6-3 victory over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. They have 17 more before Opening Day on March 30. It is early, but Kingery’s play has been encouraging. He is batting .471 (10 for 21) with one home run and a 1.161 OPS in nine games, including a 2-for-3 effort against New York. He played center field Saturday, the third time he has played there this spring.

The Phillies have two bench jobs available. They value defensive versatility, but they have made finding a backup center fielder a priority. Kingery could be the guy.

“We’re seeing the guy he was a couple of years ago,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “That guy is kind of special, because he can play anywhere. He’s athletic. He can run. He can steal bases. He can do a lot of things. He’s very dynamic.”

Kingery is not on the 40-man roster, but he is not a typical non-roster invitee. He is in the final year of a six-year, $24 million contract.

It would be nice for everybody to see a return on that investment in Year 6.

“The biggest thing for me is that I finally feel healthy, and I feel like myself again,” Kingery said. “There are things I still need to work on with my swing, but I don’t have to be so perfect right now. I’m still able to get the right path to drop some hits in. When I do hit the ball, it’s a lot more conducive to hits than pop flies or ground balls. I think where I am right now is partially from redoing the swing and having that confidence coming into Spring Training, and also just being healthy and feeling good.”

Kingery had COVID-19 and started to battle right-shoulder issues in 2020. He had shoulder surgery in '21. It took him a while to recover.

Kingery can say the same about his swing.

Somewhere along the way Kingery ditched an effective level swing for an uppercut one. It did not work. But Kingery spent this past offseason working 60-90 minutes a day, three or four times a week, with Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long at former big leaguer Luis Gonzalez’s home outside Phoenix.

Long revamped Kingery’s swing. He is more spread out in the box, utilizing his legs more. The swing is more level.

“The confidence is definitely back,” Kingery said. “I came into camp with confidence instead of trying to search for it during Spring Training. It feels good. There’s still some getting used to it, because it’s different. But I feel more balanced and more direct to the ball. It’s been good so far, and I think it could get even better."

Garrett Stubbs, Edmundo Sosa and Josh Harrison are locks to make the Phillies’ five-man bench. It leaves Kingery competing with Darick Hall, Kody Clemens, Jake Cave and Dalton Guthrie for the final two spots. Hall, Clemens, Cave and Guthrie are on the 40-man roster, which is always an important consideration when it comes to assembling a roster.

The only thing Kingery can do is keep playing well to improve his chances.

“There have been stretches over the past few years where I’ve been like, 'OK, I feel good,'” he said. “But it hasn’t been consistent for me. But now there are some balls that I’m mishitting a little bit, but they have the right angle leaving the bat, so I’m still able to get hits on those. Before it might have been a pop up in the infield.”