ALLENTOWN, Pa. — As a member of the Omaha Storm Chasers, Kameron Misner blitzed Triple-A Lehigh Valley with a 5-for-12 hitting performance across the three-game sweep out of the All-Star break. After falling victim to his hot streak, the IronPigs can now call Misner one of their own.
The Phillies acquired the 28-year-old outfielder from the Royals on Saturday for cash considerations and immediately optioned him to Triple-A. This was good news for IronPigs manager Chris Adamson, who said he’s “been a Misner guy for a couple of years,” although he wished the trade was made about a week earlier when homered in his first at-bat of the series.
“He’s got a lot of different facets to his game that make him a really exciting player,” Adamson said. “He can leave the yard, he can steal a base, he can bunt, he can play above average center field. For us, it’s going to be a definite upgrade for our team and it’s going to add some versatility.”
For Misner, the 72 hours between his designation for assignment by the Royals and his trade to the Phillies brought on a lot of uncertainty. He explained he previously went through a similar experience when he was traded to Kansas City from the Rays in November after a four-day buffer following his DFA. Having now been traded three times since being drafted 35th overall by the Marlins in 2019, Misner knows that any time he’s moved is out of his control.
“I went home, got away from baseball for a couple days, and here we are packing stuff back up in different colors but same cleats,” Misner said. “Just got to lace them up and play.”
He also knows there’s positives to meeting all the faces in a new clubhouse.
“You meet different guys, you work out with different guys on the team and different coaches,” he said. “You kind of take some from everybody and just continue to grow as a player.”
A left-handed hitter, Misner hit .286/.378/.563 with 14 home runs in 63 games for Omaha earlier this season. He was promoted to the majors in June and slashed .220/.256/.244 in 44 plate appearances across 18 games for the Royals. Misner has a career .206/.259/.312 slash line across three seasons with the Rays and Royals, while batting .249/.367/.449 over seven seasons of minor-league ball.
But Misner’s strengths lie in his defense, which he said he takes a lot of pride in, and also does “a lot of good things” when he gets on base.
“I wish you could steal first base, but you can’t,” he joked.
Misner made his IronPigs debut on Wednesday in a ninth-inning pinch-hit situation for Robert Moore, and he knocked down a two-out single on a full count to extend the game. When he is in the lineup, however, Adamson said Misner will hit “either at the top or somewhere in the middle,” and will offer a “slightly more dynamic way” of putting the lineup together. Misner hit his first home run for the IronPigs on Thursday night.
“As long as we’re looking after our own backyard, and once we go out there, we just leave it all out there and do whatever best suits the team, I think we’ll be in an OK spot,” Adamson said. “Right now there’s a lot of excitement, it’s a good thing to have him in our uniform.”
The main challenge for Misner will be staying in the moment. Luckily for him, the IronPigs have faced off against him enough to know what kind of player they’re getting out of him.
“The coaching staff reiterated that they want me to go out there and continue what you’ve been doing, and there’s no pressure or nothing like that,” Misner said. “Just show up, play and have fun doing it.”
