Kemp sees changes helping for full year

MESA, Ariz. — Tony Kemp entered each game in the second half of last season with the same goal: Get on base twice.

“If the leadoff hitter can get on base twice a game, you give your team that much better of a chance to win,” the Oakland Athletics’ utilityman said.

In 2021, Kemp was one of the American League’s most effective hitters at getting aboard. His .382 on-base percentage in 2021 ranked fourth among AL players with at least 350 plate appearances, which propelled him into a role as the A’s primary leadoff man last season.

Then Kemp posted a .282 OBP in the first half of 2022, hitting just .203 at the All-Star break. Kemp used that three-day layoff to study video of his swing and reconsider his pregame hitting work, and he returned to Oakland with some new ideas.

“Everything in the cage, I completely threw out the window,” Kemp said.

Kemp decided that his feet were too wide in his batting stance; when he loaded, his weight was staying on his back leg and his bat was dragging. As a result, he was swinging under pitches and popping them up. So Kemp brought his feet closer together in his stance, stood more upright and held his hands a bit higher. He felt better able to gauge the strike zone and create a better swing path.

“When I was striding, I could get off my back side and my hands would fire down into the hitting zone, which I wanted,” Kemp said. “I started to create that backspin, do things I really wanted to do.”

Pregame underhand flips and side-tosses were scrapped, and Kemp and the A’s hitting coaches increased reps on a pitching machine against foam balls that mimic the ride on four-seam fastballs.

“I was able to really focus on working on the top part of the baseball,” Kemp said. “I’m not going to say I had a hard time with (four-seamers), but I had a better opportunity to succeed with how I was working.”

Hitting coach Tommy Everidge said, “He was being challenged by velocity and height. If you can be on top of that, everything else is just naturally below that plane.”

It wasn’t just fastballs that gave Kemp trouble last season. He hit .153 against breaking pitches. Though still among the toughest MLB hitters to strike out, he started chasing pitches outside the zone at a much higher clip (29.4%, up from 21.1% in 2021). Add that to his walk rate dipping to 8.1%, down from 13.1%.

After his All-Star break reboot, Kemp hit .278 with a .342 OBP with nearly as many walks (19) as strikeouts (21). He set narrow goals to “play good defense” and get on base two times in every game, by any means.

“The stuff I did in 2021, that’s what I kind of felt like I was recreating in that second half,” Kemp said. “Hopefully this year I can put it all together and have a complete season.”

Kemp’s age-29 season in 2021 was his best. At 31, he’s trying to prove it wasn’t an aberration, but he achieved his 2021 numbers while placing near the bottom of MLB hitters in hard-hit and barrel rates, a formula that doesn’t reliably equate to success. Only one qualified hitter, José Iglesias, had a lower average exit velocity last season than Kemp.

The A’s need to see Kemp build on that second half. Last year’s Oakland offense ranked a woeful 29th in scoring. Rebound seasons from Kemp and Ramón Laureano could move that number in the right direction. Kemp projects to be the team’s first choice to lead off again while getting regular playing time at second base.

“He turned his season around last year,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “My hope is that he solidifies that spot and you can just write in the name every day.”

Briefly: The A’s made a second round of camp roster cuts. Outfielder JJ Bleday, infielders Jonah Bride, Jordan Diaz and Dermis Garcia, and pitcher Hogan Harris were optioned to Triple-A; outfielder Lawrence Butler was optioned to Double-A; catcher Yohel Pozo, outfielder Trenton Brooks and pitchers Garrett Williams and Jasseel De La Cruz were reassigned to minor-league camp … In Sunday’s 8-6 win over the Padres, A’s right-hander James Kaprielian faced nine batters in his Cactus League debut with five strikeouts, three walks and a single allowed in 12⁄3 innings. Kaprielian, who had AC shoulder joint surgery in October, said: “I’m expecting to be ready to go for the start of the season.” … Starter JP Sears worked five innings in the game against the Giants in Scottsdale, allowed three hits and struck out six in Oakland’s 4-3 loss.