BRADENTON, Fla. -- Every player knows that each Spring Training is a bit different from year to year -- but no Phillie knows that better than Otto Kemp.
At this time a year ago, Kemp was just a Minor Leaguer trying to hit enough in camp to catch the Phillies' attention. He was a third baseman destined to begin the season with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Now, he has a new position, a new role, new expectations and ... a new engine?
"I feel like I got a new engine," Kemp said of the two offseason procedures he had to clean up lingering left shoulder and left knee injuries. "So now, it's just about calibrating that engine."
Not one to make excuses, Kemp never mentioned the ailments as he grinded his way through his first taste of the big leagues last summer. But on June 17 -- just 10 days after making his MLB debut -- Kemp fouled a pitch off his leg that chipped a piece of bone on his left knee. He stayed in to finish the game and ultimately missed just one game despite a fractured kneecap.
Kemp also played through a nagging left shoulder injury down the stretch.
"My body is just in a different spot now than last year," Kemp said. "I was hitting for three or four months hurt, so your body kind of gets used to that and starts to make adjustments on its own. But now that I'm feeling better, it's just kind of getting used to the way my body is moving and getting comfortable with it again."
Getting comfortable at the plate is one thing. The Phillies also need Kemp to get comfortable in left field, where the former infielder is expected to form a platoon with the left-handed-hitting Brandon Marsh.
Looking to carve out a role for Kemp after Bryce Harper returned from the injury that prompted the initial callup, Kemp got his feet wet in left field last year -- but it was nothing extensive.
Kemp started seven games in left and played a total of 63 innings there for the Phillies. He tallied an additional nine starts and 76 2/3 innings in left field with Lehigh Valley.
The Phillies are hoping for a lot more in 2026.
"I would think he can relax a little bit more this year, said manager Rob Thomson. "He's coming into camp having been in the big leagues last year, so he knows the room and the veteran players. He's one of the guys."
While Kemp admittedly remains a work-in-progress in left field, there's been notable improvements even in a small sample this spring. The latest example came in the second inning on Friday afternoon against the Pirates at LECOM Park, where Kemp raced back into the gap and battled the sun to make a tough running catch on the track to rob Enmanuel Valdez of extra bases -- all while safely avoiding a potential collision with hard-charging center fielder Johan Rojas.
"I feel good in left," Kemp said. "I feel like we're making a lot of strides. From the beginning of camp to right now, I've made a lot of strides in the outfield."
That's where most of Kemp's work will come over the final three weeks of camp, though he will get an occasional start in the infield to keep that door open. (For the club's two-game trip to Fort Myers on Sunday and Monday, Kemp is expected to start one game at third base and one in left field.)
"We'll move him around a little bit," Thomson said, "but we'll concentrate him most in left field."
That's where the Phillies need him.
While Marsh slashed a respectable .280/.342/.443 with a 114 OPS+ last season, the majority of that damage continues to come against right-handed pitchers. Marsh's career OPS is more than 200 points higher against righties (.797) than lefties (.581), and he's hit a combined .195 with a .564 OPS against southpaws over the past two seasons.
The Phils have struggled to find a formidable platoonmate. Last season, Phillies left fielders combined to hit an MLB-worst .169 against left-handers. Their .573 OPS was better than only the Cardinals (.506).
Kemp, meanwhile, had a 1.167 OPS against lefties in 74 games with Lehigh Valley last season. Though those numbers dipped following his promotion, he still put up a .462 slugging percentage and a .786 OPS in 74 big league plate appearances vs. lefties.
Fully healthy, the recalibrated Kemp has tallied three doubles over the past two games, including pulling a 3-2 pitch on the outside corner into the left-center-field gap to start the fourth inning on Friday. He later worked a bases-loaded walk in that same inning.
"He's swung the bat pretty good the last couple times out," Thomson said. "It's good to see. He's been really having good at-bats."
Kemp hopes it’s only a matter of time until he’s firing on all cylinders.
“I'm feeling a lot better, a lot stronger, a lot healthier, so I can't complain there,” Kemp said. “Ready to continue this calibration and get rolling.”