Kemp is out of the lineup Thursday versus the Dodgers due to a rib contusion, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
It's not a serious concern, though, and Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said Kemp could be available off the bench. The 31-year-old utilityman is slashing .217/.303/.310 with three homers and 12 steals in 88 games this season for Oakland.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Exits early Wednesday
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Kemp was removed from Wednesday's game against the Dodgers, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.
Kemp made an incredible effort in a failed attempt to catch a foul ball during the sixth inning, jumping over the wall in the process. Cody Thomas later came in to pinch hit for Kemp, so it's possible the 31-year-old injured himself, or the Athletics opted to sub in their bench players during a lopsided contest. If Kemp turns out to be hurt, the A's should provide an update on his status.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Posts three hits, steal
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Kemp went 3-for-4 with a stolen base in Wednesday's 8-3 loss to the Giants.
Kemp snapped an 0-for-11 skid with his strong performance in this contest. He also recorded his 12th steal of the season, six of which have come in July. The 31-year-old is slashing .212/.300/.301 with three home runs, 19 RBI, 31 runs scored, eight doubles and three triples over 83 contests. Kemp's retained a starting job in left field with Ramon Laureano back, which has pushed Seth Brown to fill in for Ryan Noda (jaw) as the strong-side platoon option at first base.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Posts steal
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Kemp went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base and two runs scored in Friday's 6-4 loss to the Astros.
Kemp saw his seven-game hitting streak snapped Thursday, but he bounced back well Friday. The 31-year-old has shown more of a willingness to run lately, recording seven steals over his last 16 contests. He's slashing a meager .213/.306/.307 with three home runs, 19 RBI, 31 runs scored, seven doubles and three triples over 79 contests, and his 11 stolen bases match his career high from last year. Kemp is seeing most of his playing time in left field lately, though that could change once Ramon Laureano (hand) is activated from the injured list.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Hit streak hits seven games
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Kemp went 2-for-3 with a run in a win over the Red Sox on Wednesday.
Kemp's offensive renaissance continued out of the leadoff spot Wednesday, with the veteran's multi-hit effort serving as his fifth in the last 13 games and extending his hit streak to seven contests. Kemp's recipe for success over what is now a month-plus surge at the plate has been fairly straightforward -- he's made contact at an elite clip (6.1 percent strikeout rate) while seeing his BABIP rise from the abysmal .163 figure he carried from Opening Day through June 14 to a stellar .329 since that point.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Productive in narrow loss
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Kemp went 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a walk in a loss to the Red Sox on Sunday.
The veteran found his way back atop the order and hit safely for the seventh time in the last nine games. Kemp's steal, his fourth over that span, also brought him to within two of tying the career-best 11 he swiped a year ago. While he enters the All-Star break with his batting average just under the Mendoza Line at .197, the 31-year-old will begin the second half trending in the right direction after producing a .306/.375/.458 slash line with a double, two triples, two home runs and seven RBI across the 82 plate appearances covering his last 21 games.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Heads to bench
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Kemp will not start Saturday's game against the Red Sox.
Kemp started against each of the last six lefties the Athletics faced but will hit the bench here against James Paxton. Jordan Diaz will start at second base Saturday.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Excels in victory
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Kemp went 2-for-4 with a two-run single, a stolen base and a run in a win over the Tigers on Wednesday.
Kemp extended the Athletics' lead to 7-0 with his sixth-inning single, which brought home JJ Bleday and Shea Langeliers. The veteran added his eighth stolen base of the campaign, with half of those coming in the last six contests. Kemp is also finally on the precipice of getting his season average over the Mendoza Line -- his fourth multi-hit effort in the last five games pushed that figure to .199, which represents a 53-point improvement since June 11.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Key contributions in win
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Kemp went 2-for-4 with an RBI triple, a stolen base and a run in a win over the White Sox on Friday.
The veteran's second-inning three-bagger was his first of the season and extended Kemp's hot stretch at the plate to 14 games. The 31-year-old owns a .333 average and .976 OPS over that span. Kemp also has three of his six steals on the season in the sample, and the fact he's on a non-contending team has afforded him the necessary time to bust out of what was at one point a career-worst offensive funk.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Knocks third homer Sunday
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Kemp went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in a loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday.
Kemp's sixth-inning homer to right field ended up being the only thing standing between the Athletics and a shutout. The veteran infielder has now reached safely in 11 straight games, a stretch where he's sporting a .355 average, 1.054 OPS, 12.8 percent walk rate and tiny 5.1 percent strikeout rate.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Continues surge Wednesday
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Kemp went 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs in a loss to the Guardians on Wednesday.
Kemp authored one of two multi-hit efforts for the Athletics on the night, extending his hitting streak to six games in the process. As rotten a string of luck at the plate as the veteran endured over most of the first two plus-months of the season, the pendulum seems to have swung completely in the opposite direction. With the help of a massive boost in hard-contact rate from 21.2 percent to 46.7 percent, Kemp is sporting an astounding .538 BABIP during his current hot stretch that thoroughly dwarfs the .163 figure he was saddled with from Opening Day through June 14.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Breaks home-run drought
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Kemp went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Tuesday's loss against Cleveland.
Kemp swatted his second long ball of 2023 and his first since April 21 (38 games) to extend his hit streak to five games. Leading up to the hit streak, Kemp went hitless over 23 at-bats but has gone 6-for-12 (.500) with three runs scored since.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Extends hit streak in loss
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Kemp went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk in a loss to the Phillies on Sunday.
The bar is lowered for what qualifies as a hot streak for Kemp thus far in 2023, so his fourth straight game with a hit is noteworthy by those standards. The profound extent of the veteran's struggles has been somewhat of a mystery by the metrics -- he's carrying an impressive 11.3 percent walk rate and minuscule 11.8 percent strikeout rate -- yet a .182 BABIP has been a major albatross. Kemp may finally be starting to come into some better luck when making contact, but regular playing time is anything but assured on a non-contending team as the season heads into the heart of summer.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Rare success from bottom of order
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Kemp went 1-for-2 with two walks and a run in a loss to the Rays on Thursday.
Kemp got his first start since June 11 and drew multiple free passes for the fourth time this season. The struggling veteran had been mired in an 0-for-23 slump that encompassed his previous 12 games, so the eventful night at the plate was a welcome sight. Despite his ugly .150 batting average and .459 OPS, Kemp's 12.4 percent strikeout rate is considerably above average and his 11.2 percent walk rate is the third highest of his career.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Sitting in third straight
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Kemp is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against Atlanta.
The lefty-hitting Kemp will predictably hit the bench with southpaw Jared Shuster on the bump for Atlanta on Wednesday, but the 31-year-old infielder also sat out Monday and Tuesday, when Oakland faced right-handers Michael Soroka and Bryce Elder. At this point, Kemp appears to have lost hold of a strong-side platoon role at second base while he's sporting a lowly .455 OPS over 162 plate appearances on the season.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Sitting Tuesday
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Kemp isn't starting Tuesday against Atlanta.
Kemp hasn't recorded a hit in his last 14 at-bats, so he will begin Tuesday's contest in the dugout as Oakland searches for offensive production. Aledmys Diaz will take over at second base Tuesday and bat fourth.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: On bench in series opener
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Kemp is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Atlanta.
Kemp started at second base in four of the past five games but failed to break out of his season-long slumber at the dish, as he went hitless in nine at-bats and reached base twice in 11 plate appearances. He'll cede his spot in the lineup Monday to the newly recalled Jonah Bride, who will man third base while Jace Peterson shifts over to the keystone. If Bride can offer a spark at the plate in what will be his season debut with the big club, Kemp could soon find himself out of the lineup against right-handed pitching on a more regular basis.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Confident in turnaround
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Kemp, whose .464 OPS ranks last in MLB among hitters with at least 150 plate appearances, is confident he can snap out of his season-long funk, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports. "Maybe I'm just a start-slow guy," Kemp said. "I've never been like that in the Minor Leagues. But maybe in the big leagues I just start slow...You always come to the field hopeful each day that good things can happen. It's going to turn. I've got to believe it will."
Kemp is also hitting a meager .077 (3-for-39) with no extra-base hits and just one RBI over his last 16 games, although he's struck out at just a 15.6 percent clip in that span while also being saddled with an absurdly low .094 BABIP. However, that latter figure can't completely be chalked up to bad luck; Kemp has played a role in his undoing by producing just a 9.7 percent line-drive rate and 11.8 percent hard-contact rate in that span, as well as a tiny 1.7 percent barrel rate for the season that places him in the lower fourth percentile of qualified hitters. Kemp also had a forgettable first half a season ago before hitting .278 with five home runs and 32 RBI in 62 post-All-Star-break games, and for the time being, he's hanging on to a regular role at second base against right-handed pitching.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: Heads back to bench
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Kemp is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game in Seattle.
Kemp has started at second base in three of the Athletics' last four matchups with right-handed pitchers, but he'll head to the bench Tuesday with southpaw Marco Gonzales on the hill for Seattle. Even though Oakland recently sent Jordan Diaz back to Triple-A Las Vegas to remove competition for Kemp at second base, the 31-year-old may not be guaranteed a strong-side platoon role while he's holding down an ugly .167/.250/.227 slash line for the season.
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Athletics' Tony Kemp: On bench, could lose regular role
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Kemp is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers.
The lefty-hitting Kemp will take a seat with southpaw Andrew Heaney on the bump, but Kemp's opportunities to play regularly against right-handed pitching could soon take a hit as well. With Aledmys Diaz (hamstring) returning from the injured list Sunday, the Athletics have one less infield spot available in the regular lineup versus righties. Since rookie Jordan Diaz has seemingly played his way into a full-time role and because fellow veteran Jace Peterson holds a 122-point advantage in OPS for the season (.607 to .485), Kemp looks like he could find himself as the odd man out of the lineup more often than not.
