Undrafted, Philly's Kemp making name for himself in Fall League

PEORIA, Ariz. – Just beyond the outfield walls of Carroll B. Land Baseball Field, the home of Point Loma Nazarene University, sits the Pacific Ocean in all its cerulean splendor.

While Otto Kemp's first two Arizona Fall League homers may not have splashed down into the water, they gave a resounding reminder of the roller-coaster ride he’s been on for the past two years. He’s gone from undrafted D-II standout to a member of the Phillies’ Top 30 Prospects list on the rise.

“I still remember that Draft Day,” Kemp said. “That was a tough day but I'm forever gonna be thankful for the Phillies and them for giving me this opportunity. To them, honestly, thank you for giving me a shot. I always knew that I could do it. I had that belief in myself and I think a lot of people around me did, but it's definitely surreal to be here and in this position. But the work doesn't stop here. I just got to keep doing what got me here.”

What got Kemp to the Fall League was mashing everywhere he played in 2024, which just so happened to include every full-season affiliate in the Phillies system.

Kemp’s two-homer performance Tuesday afternoon at the Peoria Sports Complex helped propel the Desert Dogs to a 19-9 victory over the Javelinas, tying for the highest single-club run output in 2024. The 25-year-old watched a pair of teammates slug homers in the first inning before connecting on a two-run shot in the third. He followed up by taking another southpaw way out to left field in the seventh, with Glendale racking up five homers in total.

“Hitting is contagious,” Kemp said. “You see one guy [go deep], you just wanna follow up, and yeah, it's kind of our own little competition. We all have fun with it.”

An oblique ailment sustained during spring camp meant Kemp would open the year with Single-A Clearwater on a rehab stint. Upon his return to High-A Jersey Shore in mid-April, he demolished South Atlantic League pitching for a .333/.440/.533 slash line in 41 games, leading to a promotion to Double-A Reading. After tapping into more power than ever before with Reading -- 11 homers -- he earned a late-season spell with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, putting him the proverbial “one call away” from The Show.

“I've always known it was there,” Kemp said of his extra-base pop. “So I mean, just kind of trusting that the more at-bats you get, the more fields you work through, the more it's gonna come. I think just kind of gaining that experience and getting more at-bats, that's kind of how it started to really come together.”

It’s hard to prove to scouts you can play when you’re constantly battling injuries. Knee ailments were a subterfuge in high school, the second ligament tear costing him his senior season. It led him to Point Loma Nazarene University, a liberal arts college in San Diego with an undergrad student population just north of 3,000 students. But once there, a blood clot in his shoulder ended his season after 13 games. He made it 15 contests into 2020 before a torn labrum and the coronavirus pandemic concluded his year early.

Two players -- Marty Decker (1983) and Mike Ekstrom (2008-12) -- have appeared in big league games from Point Loma Nazarene, but both were pitchers, meaning the first MLB hit by a Sea Lion is still up for grabs.

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While becoming the first player in school history to collect a knock in The Show is “absolutely” on Kemp’s radar, he’s first taking in the journey that’s led him to the premier prospect circuit 27 months after 20 rounds and 616 picks of the 2022 MLB Draft went by and his name wasn’t called. In many regards a self-made prospect (No. 28 on Philadelphia's Top 30 list), the California native has had to hit, steal and pack the stat sheet in every conceivable way to land on the club’s radar.

“At the beginning of the year, I knew it was a possibility -- that was something that I was aiming for,” Kemp said of the Fall League. “And luckily, just by the grace of God, had the year that I had and thankfully enough, they wanted me to come here and get some more at-bats and kind of just show what I can do. It definitely was a goal at the beginning of the year and getting here is pretty cool.”