Red-hot Phils prospect Otto Kemp named Player of the Month at AAA

Red-hot Phils prospect Otto Kemp named Player of the Month at AAA originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Phillies prospect Otto Kemp has been on a tear since Opening Day for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and on Monday was named International League Player of the Month for April.

The right-handed-hitting infielder hit .330 with big power in April and has carried it over into May. Overall, Kemp is batting .344/.433/.703 in 150 plate appearances with 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 35 RBI in 32 games.

Kemp is 25 years old and was signed by the Phillies in August 2022 after going undrafted out of Division II Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. He’s played mostly third base in the Phillies’ system along with some work at second, first, and interestingly, two starts in left field this season.

“He’s played really well and he can play all over the diamond,” manager Rob Thomson said last weekend. “He’s got a lot of value, he really does.”

A late bloomer, Kemp is not on the Phils’ 40-man roster but the production has been impossible to overlook and he’d have to be added to the 40 before December’s Rule 5 draft anyway to protect him from being selected by another organization. Same with Gabriel Rincones Jr., another member of the 23-10 IronPigs.

Kemp leads the International League in slugging and OPS but this isn’t just a six-week hot streak. He also went 7-for-20 (.350) with four extra-base hits in big-league spring training and hit six homers with a .460 on-base percentage in the highly competitive Arizona Fall League four months earlier.

What Weston Wilson has been able to do for the Phillies as a platoon piece and pinch-hitter against lefties (.327, 1.033 OPS in 67 plate appearances) could be a template for Kemp if/when a need arises.

Another IronPig who’s starting to figure it out is right-hander Mick Abel, the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2020 who has had stops and starts with control and confidence. Abel is 4-2 with a 2.75 ERA and has allowed one or no runs in four of his seven starts, including three in a row.

The walk total is still too high with 17 in 39⅓ innings but it’s the lowest rate of his pro career.

The 23-year-old is making progress.

“He’s throwing the ball well, he really is. He’s pounding the zone,” Thomson said. “He’s always had good stuff, it’s just been a matter of consistency and so far he’s been pretty consistent.”