Surprising Phillies Top 30 prospect tearing up the Arizona Fall League

The Philadelphia Phillies' season might be over, but minor leaguers are still working to achieve their dream of one day putting on the red pinstripes. While the organization's MLB players are scattered, forced to watch the World Series on TV like the rest of us, the Phillies' top prospects are either working out in the team's high-performance camps, playing Winter ball, or playing in the Arizona Fall League.

We previously wrote about the unranked Tristan Garnett as a sleeper to watch on the AFL mound, but now we're focusing on one of the early standouts at the plate.

Otto Kemp, a surprising Phillies Top 30 prospect is tearing up the Arizona Fall League

One of the Phillies' Top 30 prospects currently playing in the desert for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the AFL is off to a strong start. It might be a name you haven't heard much about previously. But with the way Otto Kemp is tearing up the AFL, you might start hearing his name more often.

Kemp, 25, made waves early in the AFL with a two-home run game and was named a top performer for Week 2.

Listed as a third baseman, Kemp has risen from an undrafted signee out of Division II Point Loma Nazarene University all the way into the Phillies' list of top prospects, finishing the year ranked No. 28 in the Top 30. Rocketing up four minor league levels to Triple-A this summer, Kemp hit .285 with an .881 OPS, 15 home runs, nine triples and 20 stolen bases across 123 games.

He's batting .294 with his pair of home runs and seven RBI and ranks seventh in the AFL with a 1.147 OPS in six games (17 at-bats) for the league-leading 8-4 Desert Dogs.

Here are his two home runs from last week:

So why haven't we heard much about the Fullerton, California native who has been in the Philadelphia system for three seasons? Injuries have stunted his advancement since his high school days, per MLB.com's Jesse Borek. He started this past season battling an oblique strain, but once he got healthy, he showed what he's capable of with the bat.

“I've always known it was there,” Kemp said about his power, per Borek. “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.”

At the time of his multi-homer game, one of his balls was the second-hardest hit in the AFL this year, at 115.8 mph.

In addition to his newly displayed power stroke, his MLB Pipeline scouting report shows that Kemp has strong plate discipline and bat-to-ball skills. None of his tools pop, but he does everything well and can play above-average defense on the infield, getting time at second and first base this season.

It's hard to say where Kemp will go from here, but after his quick rise, a brief stint in Triple-A, and his AFL experience, he could be a name worth remembering. He might knock on the door to the big leagues next season.

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