From there, he attended Mountain Pointe High School, where college recruiters overlooked his skill at shortstop due to his small frame.

He played his first two seasons in the outfield before switching to second base as a junior in 2015; there, Kingery was named the Pac-12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year and was a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award.

After signing with Philadelphia in 2015, Kingery spent the next three seasons rising through the Phillies' farm system, including an appearance at the 2017 All-Star Futures Game.

The Phillies signed Kingery to a six-year contract extension just before the 2018 season, and he made his major league debut that opening day.

The Phillies told Kingery, who had primarily played middle infield positions, that he was to be used as a utility player, and he spent the bulk of his rookie season at shortstop.

The following year, a depleted Phillies bench pushed Kingery to the outfield as his batting average and home run numbers continued to improve.

Kingery's career suffered in 2020 due to lingering effects of the COVID-19 virus, and on June 7, 2021, he was designated for assignment and outrighted to the minor leagues.

[1] His father Tom was a corporate account manager for American Express, while his mother Patti taught preschool for a private school in the Phoenix area.

[3] The Kingerys' Ahwatukee Foothills Little League team won the West Region to advance to the World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Scott played shortstop, while Sam was at second base.

[5] Always small for his size, Kingery's childhood role model was Dustin Pedroia, who was playing college baseball at the time for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

[9] Kingery sent a number of emails to Division I coaches and eventually received an offer from the University of Arizona to play on the team as a recruited walk-on.

At the end of the season, Kingery was named the Pac-12 Conference Baseball Player of the Year; he was the first Wildcat to receive the award since Alex Mejia in 2012.

[21] He spent the majority of the season there, receiving midseason and post-season Florida State League All-Star honors and batting .293 with 29 doubles, three home runs, and 26 stolen bases in 94 games.

[24] He made a strong impression there, batting .286 with two home runs and a stolen base in 10 Grapefruit League games before heading back to Reading for the start of the season.

[25] Kingery, who had spent the 2016–17 offseason working on weight training and improving his swing, led all of minor league baseball with 16 home runs in his first 45 games, only one fewer than the MLB-leading Aaron Judge.

Despite his breakout season, Kingery was considered unlikely to make his major-league debut in 2017, as he was not yet eligible for the Rule 5 draft and the Phillies had veteran César Hernández at second base.

Finally, on April 11, he finished the series with his first career walkoff, a sacrifice fly that brought Pedro Florimon home to beat the Reds 4–3 in extra innings.

[41] McCutchen's injury, combined with Odúbel Herrera's suspension for a domestic violence incident, pushed Kingery to center field for the majority of the season.

[42] When MLB suspended operations during 2020 spring training due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kingery returned to the Phoenix area and began to practice with a small group of friends.

[43] He entered the summer training camp late and played with the team when the 2020 MLB season began on July 24, but recurrent back and shoulder pain, as well as lingering effects of the virus, continued to impact Kingery throughout early-season games.

In 2021, he attributed his decreased confidence during major league play to this ever-changing role, telling reporters that, when he was at the plate, he was often thinking more about his position on the field than the ball in front of him.