The Royals regarded Tyriq Kemp as a glove-first shortstop when they drafted him in the sixth round last year out of Baylor.
Now, Kemp’s performance through the first month of this season at High-A Quad Cities indicates that the 23-year-old lefthanded batter might have more hit tool than expected.
Through 22 games, he batted .300/.424/.514 with four home runs and eight stolen bases. The Midwest League power production was notable in that Kemp topped out at seven homers as a college senior and because he is listed at 5-foot-7, 156 pounds.
The Royals say that his power uptick is more a case of Kemp becoming more comfortable with the pro game than any mechanical changes.
“He’s adjusted and kind of fine-tuned what his approach is at the plate,” Royals farm director said Mitch Maier said.
Kemp has consistently walked as often as he has struck out throughout his career, attributing that skill to the approach he has maintained throughout his baseball life.
“I’m honestly not even thinking about striking out,” Kemp said. “. . . My hand-eye coordination is good enough to put the ball in play on strikes and lay off pitches that are balls. It’s not really something I practice. It’s just something I’m good at.”
It helps that Kemp grew up around the game in the Netherlands. His father Adonis played 15 seasons in the Dutch major league and participated in the 1996 Olympics. His older brother Dwayne played two years in the Cubs organization and is still active in the Netherlands at age 38.
Kemp also played in multiple world tournaments, including winning gold medals at the 2018 European Baseball Championship with his country’s U18 team and again in 2021 with the U23 team.
He credits his brother with helping him the most in his career.
“He was a pro ballplayer as well,” Kemp said, “so he kind of prepared me, gave me some information on how it’s going to look . . . He’s like my mental coach and also my coach with baseball in general.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.baseballamerica.com ’
