Dwayne Kemp

Dwayne Richenel Kemp

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 160 lb.

• Born February 24, 1988 in Rotterdam The Netherlands

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Biographical Information

Dwayne Kemp is the son of 1996 Olympics outfielder Adonis Kemp, a fellow long-time Hoofdklasse star. His brothers Urving Kemp and Tyriq Kemp also played in the Hoofdklasse. Dwayne played in Hoofdklasse from 2005-2007, then signed with the Chicago Cubs before returning to the Netherlands in 2010.

Kemp went 3 for 16 with a walk as the second baseman for the Dutch entry in the 2004 World Junior Championship.

Kemp was 1 for 10 for his father's old Neptunus club in 2005. In 2006, he moved to Sparta/Feyenoord and was their regular second baseman, hitting .269/.312/.377. The next year, he improved to .333/.420/.475 and fielded .962 at second base. He tied for 16th in Hoofdklasse with 25 runs, tied for 15th with 21 RBI, was 4th with 12 steals (but was caught 9 times) and ranked 7th with 12 doubles. He was with the Netherlands for the 2006 World Junior Championship.

Kemp signed with the Chicago Cubs in late 2007, becoming the fourth Dutch player from MLB's European Academy to sign with a US club, following Kalian Sams, Ramon Romeijn and Tom Stuifbergen. He debuted in the US on June 24, 2008 with the AZL Cubs and went 0 for 4 against the AZL Giants. Kemp hit .304/.407/.565 with 4 doubles, a triple, 2 steals and 6 runs in 7 games for the AZL Cubs and was promoted to the Boise Hawks. He batted .200/.246/.308 in 25 games for Boise, with 23 strikeouts in 65 AB.

Kemp joined the Dutch national team for the second round of the 2009 World Baseball Classic, replacing the injured Hainley Statia. It was his first time on the Dutch senior squad, but he did not play in the final two Dutch games before they were eliminated. Kemp batted .255/.315/.412 for the 2009 AZL Cubs as a 2B-3B.

Back in the Hoofdklasse in 2010, he was MVP of the 2010 Hoofdklasse All-Star Game on July 4th when he went 3 for 3. He hit .333/.400/.500 in the 2010 European Cup, second on Neptunus in OPS behind former major leaguer Eugene Kingsale. Neptunus had a disappointing tournament at 2-3. He fell to .158/.150/.211 in the 2010 Haarlem Baseball Week but rebounded in a more important event. In the 2010 European Championship, he was 10 for 27 with a double, triple, two homers, 5 runs and 8 RBI in 8 games as the Netherlands won the Silver Medal. He hit a 2-run homer off Chris Cooper in the first Dutch loss (11-3) to eventual champion Italy. In the Gold Medal game, he was 1 for 4 with a double and a RBI as the Netherlands fell to Italy, 8-4.

For the 2010 Hoofdklasse regular season, he hit .296/.360/.454 with 38 runs in 37 games. He was among the league leaders in doubles (14, tied for first with Raily Legito), triples (5, tied for first with Sape Wagenaar), runs (2nd, one behind Benjamin Dille), total bases (tied for 5th at 69 with Rafaël Jozefa), slugging (7th, between Jozefa and Danny Rombley) and RBI (8th, between Willie Vasquez and Randy Daal). In the 2010 Holland Series, he was 6 for 21 with 3 runs, 2 RBI, a steal and an error as Neptunus topped the L&D Amsterdam Pirates for the title. In the finale, he scored the go-ahead run in the 4th inning. His busy 2010 ended with the 2010 Intercontinental Cup. He saw little action, going 0 for 5 with a run and a steal, backing up Kingsale in left field and Sharlon Schoop at 2B.

Kemp produced at a .363/.432/.538 clip for Neptunus in 2011 with 22 steals in 23 tries and 47 runs in 42 games. He led the league in total bases (92, 2 ahead of Dirk van 't Klooster), steals (3 over Roelie Henrique), runs (3 over Sidney de Jong) and triples (5). He was 2nd in hits (behind van 't Klooster), 4th in average (trailing van 't Klooster, Vince Rooi and Dirimo Chavez), 4th in slugging (after Bryan Engelhardt, Rooi and Sidney de Jong), 5th in doubles (14) and 10th in OBP.

In the 2011 European Cup, Kemp struggled, going 3 for 20 with a walk, error and 2 steals; his hits included a triple and homer, though. He hit .353/.371/.441 in the 2011 World Port Tournament. He was the starting Dutch left fielder in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, when they won the final Baseball World Cup. Kemp was not one of the big performers, hitting .231/.259/.269 with 3 runs. In the Gold Medal game 2-1 win over Cuba, he hit leadoff and played left, going 1 for 4 with a steal, 5 putouts and an error.

In the 2012 European Cup, he put on a superb show, going 9 for 18 with 6 doubles, 5 runs, 7 RBI, 2 steals and (the sole negative) 2 errors but again Neptunus failed to make the Final Four. He led the Rotterdam phase in average, slugging (208 points over Christopher Howard), hits, RBI (tied with David Gauthier and Joris Bert), doubles (4 more than anyone else) and total bases (5 more than the runner-ups Howard, Ludwig Glaser and Oscar Angulo). He was also 9th in OBP and tied for 4th in runs. He hit .222/.250/.296 in the 2012 Haarlem Baseball Week, playing error-free defense. In the 2012 Hoofdklasse, he hit .323/.361/.491 with 36 runs and 30 RBI in 41 games. He tied Jeffrey Arends for 4th in runs, was 6th in hits (54), 6th in doubles (12), tied Linoy Croes for the most triples (5), tied for 10th in RBI, was second with 82 total bases (3 behind Wesley Connor) and ranked 7th in slugging (between Rien Vernooij and Kody Hightower). He made at least three errors in the first two games of the 2012 Holland Series as Neptunus lost.

Kemp was the main second baseman for the Netherlands in the 2012 European Championship and hit .238/.273/.381 with four runs and four RBI in six games, fielding .944. His best game came against champion Italy, going 3 for 5 with a two-run homer off Carlos Richetti in a 4-3 loss and just missing a grand slam off Justin Cicatello that went foul by a bit. In the Gold Medal game rematch with Italy, he was 1 for 4. He also scored three runs against Sweden. He was not on the Dutch team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic as they went with Andrelton Simmons, Hainley Statia and Jurickson Profar primarily on the middle infield.

He starred in the 2013 World Port Tournament, hitting .400/.417/.450 while fielding .952. He led the tournament in average, .050 ahead of Shurendell Mujica to win the World Port Tournament Best Hitter award. He also was 4th in slugging (between Alexander Malleta and Mujica), 5th in OBP (between Roelie Henrique and Mujica), led with 8 hits, tied Kuo-Long Lo for 4th in runs (4), tied Chia-Wei Huang for the lead with four RBI and tied Luo for third with 9 total bases. He also won the World Port Tournament Most Popular Player.

The Rotterdam native hit .308/.337/.397 for Neptunus in the 2013 Hoofdklasse, stole 16 bases in 17 tries and had 33 runs and 38 RBI in 40 games, fielding .938. He was outhit by his brother Urving that year. Dwayne was 9th in hits (48), led in RBI (two over Gianison Boekhoudt), was 3rd with 14 doubles (behind Dille and Ramiro Balentina), led in sacrifice flies (10), tied Croes for second in steals, was second with 129 assists (4 behind Rooi), was 5th in double plays (30) and tied for 7th in errors (12). He was 2 for 17 with a run and 3 RBI in the 2013 Holland Series but Neptunus pulled off a sweep; he did go 3-for-3 in steals.

Kemp starred in the 2014 European Cup, hitting .409/.480/.591 with 6 steals in 7 tries over 5 games, fielding .929; his brother made it a two-Kemp attack at .500/.550/.667. He was 6th in average, 5th in slugging, 5th in OBP (between former major leaguer Alex Romero and Martin Schneider), tied his brother for third in runs, tied his brother and Glaser for second in hits (9), led in RBI (7), was second in total bases (13, one behind Legito), led in steals (two ahead of Jakub Hajtmar) and tied for 7th with 12 assists. In the finale (which did not count to the stat leaders or totals), though, he was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and an error in a loss to ASD Rimini. In the 2014 Hoofdklasse, he had an off-year offensively, hitting .291/.361/.361. He fielded .946 and stole 21 bases in 26 tries. He still tied Roy Seltenrijch and Kenny Berkenbosch for 10th in hits (46), was 7th with 32 RBI (between Remco Draijer and Mark-Jan Moorman) and second in steals (one behind Henrique). He hit .308/.321/.462 with 6 RBI in 7 games in the 2014 Holland Series, stealing only one base (not being caught), the highlight being a game 2 grand slam off Jos de Jong as Neptunus repeated as titlists. He led the Series in RBI, one ahead of Rashid Gerard.

At age 27, Dwayne batted well in the 2015 World Port Tournament, hitting .348/.423/.632 but fielding only .714. He tied Teppei Ueda for the most triples (2) but also tied for the most errors (4). He was 5th in slugging (between Yurisbel Gracial and Kevin Moesquit), tied for 7th in runs (6), tied for 10th in hits (8), tied for 10th in RBI (5), tied Yasiel Santoya and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. for 2nd in doubles (3) and tied Shaldimar Daantji and Ueda for 5th in total bases (15). In a 2-1 win over Japan, he doubled off Ryusa Sakamoto in the bottom of the 9th and was driven in by Quintin de Cuba with the winner. He had two runs and two RBI in a win over Cuba. In the finale, he rapped three hits but the Netherlands lost a rematch with Cuba. He was named WPT Most Popular Player for t he second time, the first player so honored.

In the 2015 European Cup, he hit .480/.536/.680 with 10 runs in 6 games in the preliminary round, again struggling with the glove (.600 FLD on 5 TC), playing DH mostly. He was 5th in average, 3rd in OBP, first in slugging, first in runs (3 ahead of tourney MVP Stijn van der Meer and Giuseppe Mazzanti), second in hits (12, one behind van der Meer), tied Edgar Mundarain and Schneider for 6th in RBI, tied for 4th in doubles (2), tied for first in homers (one) and tied van der Meer for the most total bases (17). In the finals, won by Neptunus, he was 2 for 13 with a run and 3 RBI.

His batting line in the 2015 Hoofdklasse regular season was .368/.410/.497, his fielding was more in line with his past work (.942) and he stole 20 bases in 26 tries while scoring 39 times in 40 games. He finished on the leaderboard in average (4th, between Mervin Gario and Daantji), slugging (6th, between Daantji and Bas Nooij), OBP (9th, between Boekhoudt and Moesquit), runs (2nd, 5 behind Gario), hits (60, 2nd, 11 behind Dashenko Ricardo), doubles (13, tied for 3rd with Gario), total bases (3rd, behind Ricardo and Gario) and steals (tied for first with Gilmer Lampe). He hit .250/.400/.300 in the 2015 Holland Series, with six runs in five games; he was second in runs behind MVP Dille. He was with the Kingdom of the Netherlands entry in the 2015 Premier 12 but was used almost exclusively as a pinch-runner, only taking the field once (replacing the injured Andruw Jones). He was 0 for 1 with a walk, steal and two runs, handling one putout.

Kemp helped the Netherlands to the 2016 Haarlem Baseball Week title, playing 3B now with Nick Urbanus at 2B and van der Meer at SS for an infield 3/4 of players born in the European part of the Netherlands, all with pro experience in the US (1B Yurendell de Caster was from the Antilles). He hit .222/.286/.278 in the 2016 European Cup but scored four runs in four games to tie for third place in that category. Playing mostly 2B but also some 3B and LF in the 2016 European Championship, his batting line was .250/.357/.375 and he handled 28 chances error-free. He had six runs, four RBI and two steals in three tries over eight games. He scored the only run over Spain in a 1-0 win, driven home by a Chris Garia sacrifice fly. In the finale, a 3-2 win over Spain, he was 0 for 2 with a hit-by-pitch and another run scored.

He had the lowest average of any Neptunus regular in the 2016 Hoofdklasse, hitting .271/.356/.361, though he scored 36 runs in 37 games. He fielded .932 and his steal rate was down (16 SB, 9 CS). He tied de Cuba and Zerzinho Croes for the league lead in runs, was second to Henrique in steals, led in caught stealing, was 6th in assists and tied for 4th in errors. In the 2016 Holland Series, he batted .348/.385/.522 with 3 runs and 5 RBI in 6 games, going 3 for 3 steals in steals and fielding .906. He led the Series in RBI, tied Boekhoudt for 3rd in slugging, led in steals, tied for first in homers (1) and was second in errors (3, one behind Gerard). He was named Series MVP, succeeding his double play partner, Dille.

On a Dutch team loaded with current or former major league infielders in the 2017 World Baseball Classic (Simmons, Profar, de Caster, Jonathan Schoop, Xander Bogaerts, Didi Gregorius), he saw little action, used mostly as a pinch-runner. Replacing Bogaerts at 3B in a 14-1 rout of Cuba, he grounded out twice against Leandro Martínez. He scored the winning run against Taiwan, running for Ricardo and scoring when Profar drew a bases-loaded walk from Hung-Wen Chen. He hit .263/.348/.316 but with 4 runs and 5 RBI in 5 games as Neptunus won the 2017 European Champions Cup. He was 0 for 4 with a walk, run and RBI in the 7-3 win over Bologna in the finale. While the Netherlands struggled in the 2017 World Port Tournament, he was named World Port Tournament MVP when hitting .421/.500/.474 with 6 RBI in 6 games and playing error-free defense. He was among the leaders in average (tied for 4th), slugging (7th), OBP (tied for 4th) and RBI (2nd).

Kemp batted .329/.373/.441 with 32 RBI, 16 doubles and 11 steals in 15 tries in 35 games in the 2017 Hoofdklasse but fielded only .912. He tied for 3rd in the league with 47 hits, tied Christian Diaz for 4th in RBI, led in doubles by 4, tied Daantji for 8th in total bases (63), tied Gario for 4th in steals and tied for 6th in errors (10). In the 2017 Holland Series, he batted .200/.238/.350 with 4 runs, 4 RBI and 4 steals in 4 tries over 5 games as Neptunus beat Amsterdam. He homered off Rob Cordemans in a one-run win. He was 3rd in the Series in runs (one behind Dille and Jochem Koedijk), tied for 2nd in RBI (3 behind Boekhoudt), led in steals (one ahead of Lampe) and was the only player other than Boekhoudt to homer.

The veteran infielder hit .286/.286/.524 with 4 RBI in 5 games in the 2018 European Champions Cup as Neptunus repeated as champions. He played error-free ball and tied de Cuba for 6th with 11 total bases. He hit a 3-run homer off Petr Minařík during the event. In the finale, he was 3 for 4 with a run as Neptunus downed Rimini. He hit .324/.343/.441 with 6 runs and made no errors in 7 games in the 2018 Haarlem Baseball Week, homering in a win over Germany. He finished 3rd in wins, tied Ariel Sánchez for 2nd with 11 hits and was second with 3 steals. He won the Carl Angelo Award.

He lit up the 2018 Hoofdklasse, producing at a .407/.429/.539 clip with 41 RBI and 20 steals (in 27 tries) in 41 games. He fielded .969, now stationed at third base regularly. He was among the league leaders in average (1st, .026 over Tijmen Takke), slugging (1st, .027 ahead of Denzel Richardson), OBP (5th), hits (68, 1st, 11 more than Richardson), RBI (1st, 4 ahead of Dudley Leonora), total bases (90, 1st, 5 ahead of Richardson), sacrifice flies (5, 1st), steals (tied for 2nd, one behind Henrique) and caught stealing (tied for 2nd, one behind Richardson). He would be named league MVP, beating out fellow finalists Berkenbosch, Shurman Marlin and Henrique. While Neptunus had dominated the league in the decade, he was the first Neptunus player to win MVP since van 't Klooster in 2005.

In the 2018 Holland Series, he had 4 hits in game 4 and 3 in game 5 as Neptunus went on to take the title again; he hit .333/.333/.417 and had no errors in 20 chances. He tied Daantji for second in the Series in average (behind Series MVP van der Meer), was second to van der Meer in slugging and hits (8), tied Daantji for 3rd in RBI, tied Remco Draijer and Victor Draijer for the most doubles (2) and was second with 10 total bases, one behind van der Meer. He was with the Netherlands for the 2018 Super6 and hit .444/.474/.833 with 5 runs and 4 RBI in 4 games, fielding .882 as the Dutch won the event. He had 3 hits and 2 runs against the Czechs. Against Italy, his single off Alex Bassani scored Kirvin Moesquit with the tying run in the bottom of the 10th as the Netherlands would rally to win. For the event, he was 10th in average (between Sicnarf Loopstok and Lesther Galvan) and slugging (between Stephen De Lannoy and Jakub Malik), tied for 5th in hits (8), tied for 2nd in doubles (2, one behind Alex Liddi), was 9th in total bases (75) and tied Hajtmar and Leonora for the most errors (2).

Sources: Dutch baseball stats, Honkbalsite.com article, 2008 Cubs Media Guide, Haarlem Baseball Week, Confederation of European Baseball, Old IBAF website, World Port Tournament, World Baseball and Softball Confederation, World Baseball Classic,