Tony Kemp Begins New Chapter In Louisville

Tony Kemp’s 2024 season has been an adventure, to put it lightly. He’s already switched organizations four times and has spent most of the season at Triple-A for the first time in over six years.

Kemp made a name for himself during the past four seasons with the Oakland A’s as a versatile everyday player and a consummate professional. Overall, he’s played in over 700 Major League games and earned a World Series ring as a member of the 2017 Houston Astros.

This year, Kemp started in spring training with the Cincinnati Reds, but was released on March 19 when he didn’t make the Major League Opening Day roster. He then signed with the Baltimore Orioles and made the Opening Day roster, his sixth straight season starting on a Major League team.

But he only played in five games for Baltimore before the Orioles let him go. Kemp signed with the Minnesota Twins and spent a couple months in Triple-A St. Paul, choosing to move on from there on July 1. About a week later, the Reds came calling again, and he’s been with the Louisville Bats ever since.

As one of the most experienced members of the Bats, Kemp has brought a unique perspective to the field each day, while contributing from the middle of the Louisville lineup. Recently, we caught up with Kemp to talk about his perspective of being back in the minors, changing teams, playing against former teammates, and so much more.

This is the first year in a while you’ve spent an extended period at the Triple-A level. How would you describe the season you’ve had so far?

This is my first year back in Triple-A since May of 2018. I’ve definitely been blessed to have the career that I’ve had so far. Having the perspective of talking with guys that are wishing they could have careers like mine is something special. To be able to be in the position I’m in is a blessing. I wish it would have worked out at the beginning with the Reds. But at the time, the Twins seemed like a good fit. It was a good time in St. Paul, I feel like I’d been playing well. But once I saw the Twins heating up and realized there wasn’t much of an opportunity to play in the big leagues there I decided to opt out and the Reds called the next day. Now I’m here, and hopefully they need an extra guy off the bench, and I can be that guy.

When you started the year in the big leagues with the Orioles, you were eventually designated for assignment to make room for Jackson Holliday. How were you able to overcome that and get back on your feet?

I sent out a tweet, and at the end of the day, that’s the nature of the business. This is a kid who is a rising star and was the first overall pick in the MLB draft, and those guys are very good. Especially for me to be the guy who eventually lost my job, you can’t look at it in the way of losing your job, you must look at it as the nature of my business. There were new opportunities for me as well. To be able to come out here and play baseball, you’ve got to have that perspective of it’s still a kid’s game. I’ve been fortunate enough to get drafted in 2013. I’ve spent over a decade in professional baseball, and I don’t take that lightly.

In the fall of 2010, our college had a series against the Longhorns for a 3 game set. Our hitting coach at the time was Josh Holliday and his brother, Matt, brought his kid to our early practice. I remember watching his son @J_Holliday7 with a sweet lefty swing. Go get em’ kid!

— Tony Kemp (@tonykemp) April 10, 2024

Early in your time with St. Paul, you came to Louisville and swept the Bats. Then in your first series with the Bats, you swept St. Paul here in Louisville. How is it playing against your former teammates?

I can’t lie, it’s a battle to play against people you know, especially when you step in the box and turn that competitive nature on. Because I enjoyed my time with St. Paul. There's a lot of good dudes over there. There's a couple of interactions where I felt like my time there was definitely one that was spent in the right way. And the relationships that I made were, you know, kept me going for sure. I mean, sometimes you get in that level of it being Triple-A, but, fighting your way back to the big leagues is another story. So, it's just another chapter in the book.

Why were the Reds the right fit for you right now after they weren’t the right fit during Spring Training?

That's just it's just the nature of the business. I mean, looking at where I was in spring training to when I opted out of my contract. If I didn’t do that, I never would have been able to go to the Orioles and make my sixth Opening Day roster. And then after the Orioles, the Reds did call again. But the Twins have been a lot more adamant in that situation. And looking at the two situations, the Twins were kind of scuffling at the time and my agent, my family, and I decided to go with the Twins. I think the Reds were hot at the time. You’ve got to go with your gut. And I feel like my gut was with the Twins at the time. And I don't feel like it was any awkward conversation just because it's business. After the Twins, the Reds reached out and asked if I wanted to come back and I said I was ready to do it. So that's how it worked out.

This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.