After playing through pain, Otto Kemp gets a chance to show what he can do when healthy in 2026

Otto Kemp is accustomed to playing through pain.

In college, he played the Division II national championship game with a broken hand — and went 4-for-4. He also has a habit of getting hit by pitches, 26 total last year, including four in a single game in triple A to set a Lehigh Valley record.

But even so, Kemp is hoping for a healthier 2026 with the Phillies. He underwent two procedures this winter to address injuries he’d been grinding through last year: a bone fragment removed from his left knee and what he described as a “shoulder cleanup.”

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Kemp had been playing with the bone fragment since June, but only missed a single game.

“He’s just so tough. He really is,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He’s just one of those guys that can put all that pain and little dings behind them, and forget about it, and go out and play. Some guys are like that, and he’s one of them. He’s a phenomenal kid.”

Kemp expects to be fully ready for spring training. The Phillies’ first full-squad workout is set for Feb. 16 in Clearwater, Fla.

And it figures to be a big spring training for the 26-year-old. Over the offseason, Thomson and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski both emphasized the importance of injecting youth into the Phillies roster in 2026. The Phillies had the second-oldest lineup in baseball last year, with an average age of 30.3 years old.

One name that keeps cropping up? Kemp.

“We like a lot of things about him,” Dombrowski said. “He’s a good hitter, and the ball jumps off his bat. He’s a threat when he comes to the plate. ... He’s a tough son of a gun. He’s a championship-type player. I mean, what he played through last year, injury-wise, I don’t think that there’s many people that would have done that.”

Kemp will likely have an opportunity in left field as a right-handed platoon partner for Brandon Marsh. He came up through the Phillies’ system as an infielder but played 63 major league innings last season in left field, logging significant time working with coach Paco Figueroa. Kemp recorded plus-1 defensive runs saved in the outfield in 2025.

But he also acknowledged that he still has a lot to learn about the position.

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“Every place that you play at, the dimensions are different, the environment is different,” Kemp said. “So just learning how to play through the elements, and learning what I need to take away from any ballpark that we’re at, and how the ball bounces off the wall, what the dimensions are like. Learning overall feel in the outfield, I think, is just going to be the biggest part moving forward.”

The Phillies are most excited about Kemp’s bat, especially when he’s fully healthy. He had a .234 batting average and .709 OPS in 62 major league games last season, but the potential for more power is there. He hit 16 home runs in 74 triple-A games.

With a big spring on the horizon, Kemp is looking forward to the opportunity to be one of the young players potentially impacting the lineup and clubhouse.

“It’s awesome to be recognized for the work that we’ve been putting in,” Kemp said. “... Really just try and lean into that, and just be gamers, and play the game hard and do things the right way. Just seeing all of that kind of take shape and start to form something has been really cool.”

Kemp could share the outfield with another young player in Justin Crawford, who is the Phillies’ presumptive opening day center fielder. Kemp has teamed up with the 22-year-old at several minor league stops.

“He’s a gamer. He’s a game changer,” Kemp said. “He’s got speed. He’s just raw athletic. He’s just a grindy guy. He’s going to get the job done, and I’m excited to see what he can do at the big league level, because just playing with him over the last three years has been really special.

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“Fun to see him in the leadoff spot, just setting the tone, swiping bags, taking extra 90s [bases]. I think it’s all stuff that plays a big factor in winning baseball games, so it’s going to be fun to see him do that on the biggest stage.”

After Kemp’s whirlwind rookie year ended and he started to address the injuries he’d been playing through, he took some time with his wife to reflect on the journey. When he made his major league debut in June, he accomplished something that few other Division II college players and undrafted free agents have.

But he doesn’t want the story to end there.

“You get a lot of ups and downs in this game,” Kemp said. “And there’s people that don’t stick. And hopefully I’m trying to prove to be one of those guys that can get established up here.”