Tony Kemp Shows Support For Jackson Holliday After Losing Roster Spot to Baltimore Orioles Prospect

The Baltimore Orioles designated Tony Kemp for assignment in order to make room for top prospect Jackson Holliday, but the veteran accepted the move with grace.

Apr 10, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday (7) warms up at Fenway Park. / David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles fans had been on the edge of their seats, waiting for their team to call up top prospect Jackson Holliday. When they finally made the move official on Wednesday, celebration ensued.

But one person who didn't have much to celebrate was veteran utility man Tony Kemp.

The Orioles designated Kemp for assignment in order to make room for Holliday on their big league roster. After four seasons with the Houston Astros, four seasons with the Oakland Athletics and one month with the Cincinnati Reds, Kemp wound up spending just two weeks in Baltimore.

Kemp accepted the move with grace, though, taking to social media to share a coincidental anecdote about Holliday while wishing the young infielder good luck.

Back when Kemp was at Vanderbilt in 2010, the Commodores' hitting coach was Josh Holliday. Josh's younger brother was Matt Holliday, a seven-time MLB All-Star and Jackson Holliday's father.

Kemp recalled the time when Josh welcomed Matt and Jackson to a Vanderbilt practice in 2010. Even though Jackson was 7 years old at the time, Kemp said he remembered watching the youngster's "sweet lefty swing."

In the fall of 2010, our college had a series against the Longhorns for a 3 game set. Our hitting coach at the time was Josh Holliday and his brother, Matt, brought his kid to our early practice. I remember watching his son @J_Holliday7 with a sweet lefty swing. Go get em’ kid!

— Tony Kemp (@tonykemp) April 10, 2024

The story coming out Wednesday, the day of Jackson Holliday's MLB debut, was fitting on multiple levels. Earlier in the day, people dug up a 2014 tweet from ESPN's Buster Olney, who predicted that Jackson would eventually be an All-Star.

Holliday may have gone 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in his MLB debut against the Boston Red Sox, but he is still the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball. After a successful Spring Training and a dominant week in Triple-A, Holliday showed he was ready for a promotion, regardless of the results through one game.

That promotion may have come at Kemp's expense, but the 32-year-old veteran seems to be in good spirits about the changing of the guard.

And with the Orioles beating the Red Sox 7-5 on Wednesday – thanks, in part, to Holliday's RBI groundout in the sixth inning – fans are surely content with the youth movement as well.

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