Yes, he is. He does everything well, except hit home runs. My player comparison would be Lyle Overbay.
There goes Kubitza, the guy many of us watched out duel Appel at Rice to open the season earlier this year.
Kemp is #269 on the BA Top 500. He's 5'6", 160. 2013: 64 games, .398/.480/.498, 13 2B, 6 3B, 33 RBI, 64 R, 35 BB (9 HBP), 31 K, 32 SB (14 CS)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Wow. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Vanderbilt">#Vanderbilt</a>'s Tony Kemp goes to the @<a href="https://twitter.com/astros">astros</a> in the fifth round. Kemp is the ultimate spark plug. Great speed, instincts, good bat.</p>— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) <a href="https://twitter.com/KendallRogersPG/status/343074328985886720">June 7, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>.@<a href="https://twitter.com/vandybaseball">vandybaseball</a>'s Tony Kemp is 5-foot-6, 160 pounds and was a preseason All-American. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Astros">#Astros</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23MLB">#MLB</a></p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronAstros) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronAstros/status/343074479481704450">June 7, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>.@<a href="https://twitter.com/vandybaseball">vandybaseball</a>'s Tony Kemp, <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Houston">#Houston</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Astros">#Astros</a>' fifth-round pick, was SEC player of the year. <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23MLBDraft">#MLBDraft</a></p>— Brian T. Smith (@ChronAstros) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChronAstros/status/343074765768118272">June 7, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Astros">#Astros</a> select 2B Tony Kemp out of Vanderbilt in the 5th round of the <a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23MLBDraft">#MLBDraft</a>. He hit .398 with a .480 OBP in 64 games this year.</p>— Houston Astros (@astros) <a href="https://twitter.com/astros/status/343075120312643584">June 7, 2013</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
5 straight college players. A draft pick from my wife's school, sort-of (Middle Georgia State College, announced as Middle Georgia College, which was before it merged with Macon State College 1-1-13).
Welp... good luck at Notre Dame, Cavan. Maybe we'll draft him somewhere in the 35th-40th rounds purely for ceremonial purposes.
Jack Reinheimer, who is a SS from East Carolina that was picked by the Mariners, was born on the exact same date as me. And yet, I'm here, and he's starting his professional baseball career.
So far this draft makes me think about Luhnow's comments about creating a winning culture in the minors.
Could it be that the Astros have taken "under-slot" guys in the last few rounds in order to save up enough to grab a top guy much later? Kind of like what the Astros did last year with Hunter Virant (first pick of 11th round, when slot bonuses level off to $100k and don't count against the pool). I'm guessing that Appel's demands are much higher than Correa's were, so there just might not be enough bonus money (yet) to throw at a top guy who fell. Maybe in another couple of rounds, when the Astros feel that they have, in the aggregate, enough extra bonus money available to spend a pick on a top guy, they'll pull the trigger.
You could be right. I honestly believe he is drafting guys who he thinks will make quality major league players though, we are already winning in the minors. I tend to trust that he is doing the best that he can to build a great major league team in the near future. Maybe i'm wrong, I have not studied Luhnow's history when it comes to how good he is at finding college pitchers vs college 1b's vs college 2b's vs high school of's and so forth Hopefully this draft isn't just a total and complete bust
Earlier today, Jim Callis said that he thinks that Appel's bonus could be anywhere from $6-6.5 million. Thurman will probably get around slot. Gregor is probably the most likely to sign under slot, and Kemp might be an under-slot signing.
Yes, this is my guess. I would look for them to go for at least one over-slot player likely after the 10th round.
