Kempt went 1-for-3 in Saturday's Cactus League contest against the Reds.
Kemp has really struggled thus far this spring, so it's nice to see the 31-year-old have some success. Even with the knock, the left-handed hitter is slashing just .154/.361/.192 in his time in Arizona. Kemp is likely to hit at or near the top of the order against right-handers for the A's while likely moving to the bottom or out of the lineup altogether against southpaws.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Reaches deal for 2023
Rotowire
Kemp agreed to a one-year, $3.725 million contract with the A's on Friday to avoid arbitration, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The 31-year-old made just over $1 million last season, and he'll more than triple that figure in 2023, which is his final year of arbitration eligibility. Kemp played in a career-high 147 games last year and had a .235/.307/.334 slash line with seven home runs, 46 RBI and 11 stolen bases.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: On bench against southpaw
Rotowire
Kemp isn't starting Monday against the Angels.
Kemp will take a seat for a second consecutive game since left-hander Patrick Sandoval is starting for the Halos on Monday. Seth Brown is taking over in left field and batting fifth.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Sits against lefty
Rotowire
Kemp is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.
Kemp is 3-for-26 over his past eight games and will sit Sunday with southpaw Robbie Ray pitching for Seattle. Seth Brown will shift to left field while Cristian Pache starts in center.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Swipes 11th bag Wednesday
Rotowire
Kemp went 1-for-3 with a stolen base and a run in a loss to the Angels on Wednesday.
The veteran led off and provided one of the few productive nights at the plate for a largely moribund Athletics offense. Kemp has been wielding a mostly productive bat for the last month-plus, posting a .286 average, .790 OPS, nine extra-base hits and 17 RBI over his last 28 games, all while striking out a tiny 6.1 percent clip. Both his RBI and stolen-base production are also at a career-best level this season, as Kemp has set high-water marks with 45 runs driven in and 11 thefts (in 12 attempts) across 141 games.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Takes seat Tuesday
Rotowire
Kemp is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Angels.
Kemp started the past 11 games and will head to the bench after he posted a .233/.283/.442 slash line with two home runs and seven RBI during that span. Jordan Diaz will step in at the keystone and bat sixth against Halos lefty Patrick Sandoval.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Bashes three-run homer
Rotowire
Kemp went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in a 4-1 win against Seattle on Tuesday.
Kemp got to Seattle starter Luis Castillo twice with a single in the third inning and go-ahead three-run home run in the fifth. The impressive performance continues a stellar September for the 30-year-old, who's slashing .321/.387/.571 with three long balls in 15 contests.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Stellar day on bases Saturday
Rotowire
Kemp went 3-for-5 with a triple, two stolen bases and three runs in a win over the Astros on Saturday.
The veteran put together a textbook leadoff effort, serving as a constant thorn in the side of Astros pitching throughout the game. Kemp scored both the first and final runs of the game for Oakland, and he also crossed the plate on Seth Brown's critical three-run home run in the fifth inning that gave Oakland a 6-4 lead. The three runs pushed him to a new career high of 55, while the pair of key thefts boosted his total in that category to 10, also a new high-water mark. Kemp now has a trio of multi-hit efforts in his last seven games alone, a span during which he's posted a .346 average and a 1.164 OPS.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Pops sixth homer
Rotowire
Kemp went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in a win over the Rangers on Wednesday.
Kemp's sixth-inning blast plated Nick Allen and brought the A's within a run at the time. The 30-year-old has now gone deep in back-to-back games and is on a late-season tear that shows no sign of abating -- factoring in Wednesday's production, Kemp boasts a .328 average, .905 OPS, six extra-base hits (three doubles, one triple, two home runs) and 12 RBI across his last 16 games.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Out against lefty
Rotowire
Kemp is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Rangers.
Kemp heads to the bench with southpaw Cole Ragans on the hill for Texas. Jonah Bride will start at the keystone and hit sixth.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Homers in three-hit game
Rotowire
Kemp went 3-for-4 with a solo home run, an RBI triple and an RBI single in a 10-3 victory over the White Sox on Sunday. He also scored four runs.
Kemp has been swinging a hot bat recently, and he added some power to the mix with his fifth home run and first triple of the season. Kemp now has hits in 12 of his last 13 games and has raised his average to .234 with the performance. Kemp was hitting as low as .201 in July. Kemp has scored 51 runs this season and is on the brink of topping his career-high total of 54 from last year.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Bat remains hot in loss
Rotowire
Kemp went 2-for-4 with an RBI single and two runs in a loss to the White Sox on Friday.
Kemp's hitting streak is now at 11 games following Friday's output. The veteran did see his 10-game stretch without a punchout end courtesy of a swing and miss of a Joe Kelly knuckle curve during his final plate appearance of the night, but Kemp's current .231 average qualifies as his best figure in that category since June 25.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: On base twice in return
Rotowire
Kemp (groin) went 1-for-2 with a walk in a loss to the White Sox on Thursday.
Kemp's groin tightness kept him on the shelf for just one game, and the veteran extended his hitting streak to 10 games upon return. The 30-year-old has only one multi-hit effort during that span, but he's still produced an encouraging .308 batting average and .742 OPS while not striking out a single time in 42 plate appearances.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Leading off Thursday
Rotowire
Kemp (groin) is starting Thursday's game against the White Sox.
Kemp didn't play Wednesday against Atlanta due to groin tightness, but he'll start at second base and lead off a day later. He's in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak in which he's batting .297 with three doubles, seven runs and six RBI.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Dealing with groin tightness
Rotowire
Kemp's absence from the Athletics lineup Wednesday against Atlanta was due to groin tightness, but manager Mark Kotsay isn't concerned it will lead to an extended absence, the Associated Press reports.
The veteran was initially thought to just be getting a late-season rest day, but this report indicates otherwise. It remains to be seen if Kemp, who's currently carrying a nine-game hitting streak and has already played the second-most games (124) of his career this season, will be in the lineup for the start of a four-game series with the White Sox on Thursday night.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Sitting Wednesday
Rotowire
Kemp will sit Wednesday versus Atlanta.
Kemp will get a breather after he went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored in Tuesday's 10-9 loss. Jonah Bride will replace him at second base and bat sixth in the series finale.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Clutch single in loss
Rotowire
Kemp went 1-for-4 with a two-run single in a loss to the Orioles on Friday.
The veteran tied the game at 2-2 with his fifth-inning knock, which plated Dermis Garcia and Vimael Machin. Kemp extended his hitting streak to six games in the process, a span during which he's hitting .308 (8-for-26), hasn't struck out and has accumulated six RBI thanks to a .429 average with men on base.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Rakes out of top of order
Rotowire
Kemp went 3-for-4 with a two-run double, another two-bagger and two runs in a win over the Nationals on Tuesday.
Kemp enjoyed a much-needed breakout out of the top of the order, and his third-inning two-bagger plated Nick Allen and Cal Stevenson to snap a 4-4 tie. The veteran is still plagued by a lackluster .226/.302/.310 slash line, but he's now laced a career-high 21 doubles and is seven RBI away from eclipsing the career-best 37 he tallied a season ago.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Swinging hot bat of late
Rotowire
Kemp, who went 2-for-4 with a two-run single and a run in an extra-inning win over the Mariners on Saturday, is now hitting .323 (10-for-31) over his last nine games.
The veteran has four multi-hit efforts over that span when factoring in Saturday's production, and some of the other components of his fantasy-friendly line include six RBI, five walks and one steal. Kemp's season average still sits at a lackluster .222, but thanks to his recent surge, that's actually the highest it's been since June 27.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Takes seat Friday
Rotowire
Kemp isn't starting Friday against the Mariners.
Kemp went 0-for-3 with a walk during Thursday's loss to the Rangers and will be out of the lineup for the second time in the last three games with left-hander Marco Gonzales on the mound for the Mariners. Chad Pinder is starting in left field and batting cleanup.
