After Nine Major League Seasons, Former Chicago Cub Tony Kemp To Retire

This has been the week of retirements for Major League veterans, and the Chicago Cubs are now experiencing one of their former players hanging up the cleats.

After a nine-year career at the Major League level, the speedy outfielder released a statement via his Twitter early Thursday morning that he would be officially retiring.

"Wow. Thank you, God, for allowing me to be a Major League Baseball player," Kemp's statement began. "After 12 years of professional baseball, and nine seasons in the Big Leagues, I've decided to hang up the spikes."

Kemp goes on to thank all of the people in his life who have helped him in his journey, from his parents to his siblings, and his Vanderbilt Commodores baseball coach. The speedster also thanked the four Major League teams that rostered him during his career, the Cubs, the Houston Astros, the Oakland Athletics, and the Baltimore Orioles.

Kemp, 33, finishes his career with 3.7 bWAR and a 90 OPS+ across 2,247 plate appearances in 739 games at the MLB level.

The Astros drafted Kemp in the fifth round of the 2013 MLB draft out of Vanderbilt. Just three years later, he would make his Major League debut.

Kemp would not spend much time as an everyday player, but he made his playing time count when it came with his glove and his speed. His career batting line finishes at .237/.324/.351 with 35 home runs and 184 RBI, and he added 53 steals with that.

While his time in Chicago was short, he put his versatility to work. After acquiring the utility man in a trade with Houston, he spent time at four different positions across his 44-game tenure with the team in 2019, and batted .183/.258/.305 with one home run and 12 RBI.