Former Centennial High and Vanderbilt standout Tony Kemp bats for the Fresno Grizzlies against the Salt Lake Bees during a 2015 contest. Kemp is rated as one of the top prospects in the Astros system. He is in the middle of a four-game series in Nashville.
Former Centennial High and Vanderbilt standout Tony Kemp had quite a welcoming party for his first game in Nashville since becoming a professional baseball player.
Kemp’s Fresno Grizzlies began a four-game series at First Tennessee Park against the Nashville Sounds Saturday and Kemp had plenty of local support in his homecoming.
Kemp went 1-for-4 in the game as his Grizzlies lost to the Sounds 9-1. Kemp battled some nerves before the game, but returning to a familiar area to play baseball felt right at home for him.
“It’s honestly like a calming feeling, like playing another Vandy series or anything else,” Kemp said. “The game does matter don’t get me wrong, but when you see familiar faces no matter what happens in the game I’ll be smiling, because I’ll see just how many people have kept up throughout my career and I thank them.”
One of those fans was Kemp’s older brother, Corey. Corey, a former minor league catcher drafted in the 14th round by the Milwaukee Brewers, also prepped at Centennial and played collegiate baseball at East Carolina.
The two brothers enjoyed a special bond growing up, as they loved to compete against each another, whether through athletics or playing Monopoly for hours on end. Despite Corey being six years older, Tony wouldn’t give up when it came to competition and Corey believes that has helped him throughout his career.
“I love him to death and we have a special relationship,” Corey said. “Even if he was the best player at his level I wanted to make sure he knew there was always another level you can go to and to never be satisfied. If he’s not working, someone else is and I think he embraced that.”
This mentality started during Kemp’s high school years at Centennial, where he lettered all four years in football and baseball. On the diamond, he played multiple outfield positions while batting .540 his senior season, earning First Team All-Midstate honors two years in a row.
Rob Laughman, Kemp’s high school baseball coach, still has a close relationship with him and remembers the joy of playing the game that he still shows today.
“The coolest part about Tony was the way he had fun,” Laughman said. “Every day was just a sunny day in Tony’s life and he really enjoyed playing the game.”
Former Centennial High and Vanderbilt standout Tony Kemp, left, poses with his older brother, Corey, prior to Saturday’s battle between Kemp’s Fresno Grizzlies and the Nashville Sounds.
Kemp showed that same passion while playing for Tim Corbin at Vanderbilt.
“He’s probably one of the most positive individuals you’ll ever run into, Corbin said. “One of those small, diminutive, charismatic kids that I think is rare in sports. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen combining personality, competitiveness and play into the arena of athletics.”
Kemp helped Vanderbilt win the 2011 and 2013 SEC regular season championships.
In Kemp’s final season in 2013, he won SEC Player of Year, batting .391 with a .471 on-base percentage. He also added 34 stolen bases and 64 runs scored in 66 games.
He made the move from outfield to second base in college, which wasn’t an easy transition, but he worked hard before practice and after practice fine-tuning his defensive skills to make him a more versatile player.
After his junior season in 2013, Kemp was drafted by the Houston Astros in the fifth round. He quickly moved up the minors, playing his first year with Class-A Tri-City ValleyCats and Class-A Quad Cities River Bandits. In 2014, he split the season between High-A Lancaster and Double-A Corpus Christi until his promotion to Triple-A Fresno in June 2015.
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He was named the Most Valuable Player of the Pacific Coast League playoffs, helping the Grizzlies win its first-ever league championship in 2015 when he batted .405 in the postseason.
Through Saturday’s game, Kemp is batting .299 with a .410 OBP to go along with four steals and 20 walks through 33 games. He’s ranked the 11th-best prospect in the Astros organization and the eighth-best second baseman prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com.
However, with the Astros boasting arguably the best young middle infield in the Major Leagues (second baseman Jose Altuve and shortstop Carlos Correa), Kemp could be blocked at the MLB level at the position. In order to enhance his chances of making the big league club, he is once again transitioning himself back to the outfield. Kemp takes this as motivation to better himself each and every day.
“So going into today I want to be better than I was yesterday and the main thing I tell myself each day is control the controllable, control what you can control and everything will take care of itself,” said Kemp, who started in the outfield for the Grizzlies during Sunday’s contest against the Sounds..
Kemp and the Grizzlies will play two more games on their trip to Nashville, Monday and Tuesday night at 6:35.