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Fantasy Baseball Farm Report: Otto Kemp is banging down the door to MLB

Otto Kemp is among the most scorching-hot hitters in baseball at any level, and his binge began well before opening day.

Kemp hit six bombs and drove in 22 runs in the Arizona Fall League in 15 games, then delivered seven hits over 20 spring at-bats for the Phillies, with four extra-base hits included. He was recently named the International League player of the month for April and has actually improved since the calendar flipped to May. He's currently slashing .341/.432/.689 at Lehigh Valley with 10 homers, five steals and 25 XBHs. Kemp is basically making loud contact every day, relentlessly.

Not bad for a kid who went undrafted out of Point Loma Nazarene University, a DII school in San Diego. (Shoutout to the Sea Lions.) You won't find Kemp's name near the top of many prospect lists, but, again, you also won't find a more locked-in hitter anywhere in the high minors. He's just unreasonably hot at the plate right now.

Kemp offers defensive versatility, having already appeared at first, second, third and left field this season. It's not as if everyone in Philadelphia's lineup has met expectations this year, so an opportunity could present itself soon. Kemp has some swing-and-miss to his game (40 Ks), which could certainly become a problem when he faces elite stuff at the highest level. But he appears to have fully conquered Triple-A pitching and he's turning 26 in September, so he's as ready as he's gonna get.

Cade Horton has been dealing, could soon get the call

Horton has been nearly untouchable for the Iowa Cubs, producing a 1.24 ERA and 0.86 WHIP over his first six starts this season. He's a new pitch guy and it sure seems as if everything in his arsenal is working. The right-hander has struck out 33 batters over 29.0 innings so far, allowing just 12 hits and four runs.

It sounds as if Horton is under consideration to replace the mildly injured Shota Imanaga (hamstring) in Chicago's rotation, so be prepared to act if or when he gets the nod.

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Let's not forget about Matt Shaw, either

The Cubs returned Shaw to Iowa for additional seasoning after he got out to a slow start, but he's more or less back to his old self at Triple-A. Shaw is slashing .264/.400/.377 with 11 walks and only seven Ks. He remains the long-term plan at third base on the north side. Let's please remember that he hit 21 home runs and swiped 31 bags in the high minors last year while reaching base at a .379 clip. We should see him at Wrigley again before too long.

Jac Caglianone is hitting rockets

Seriously, look at this thing:

That's about as quickly as you will ever see a baseball leave a park. Only a dozen big leaguers have hit a ball this season with an exit velocity of 115 or greater.

Caglianone is currently hitting .330/.406/.606 at Double-A with eight homers and 31 RBI. Kansas City selected him sixth overall in last year's draft, following his stellar collegiate career at Florida. He should at least be headed to Omaha soon, if not yet to KC.

Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer raking at Worcester

Anthony and Mayer are both consensus top-of-the-ranks prospects, 21 and 22 years old, respectively, and they are thriving at the Triple-A level for Boston. Anthony is slashing .294/.410/.495 with five homers and 23 walks; he looks like he's gonna be a longtime 20/20 guy with on-base ability. Mayer is up to seven home runs and an outrageous 34 RBI in just 29 games.

Some of the vets at Worcester have run out of adjectives to describe Anthony, because he's so advanced in his approach. He's a priority stash.

Jordan Lawlar is once again crushing at Reno

When it's all said and done, Lawlar might go down as one of the all-time PCL hitters. He's hitting .358/.437/.622 over 60 career games at Triple-A, across three different seasons. Lawlar just won the PCL player of the month award after slashing a ridiculous .408/.487/.749 in April.

It might feel as if Lawlar has been around forever, but that's only because he rose to prominence in prospect circles as a teenager. He's still only 22 years old. One of these days, he's gonna break through at the big league level. He'll clearly get another opportunity in the weeks or months ahead if he can simply stay healthy.

Chase Burns is cooking

It would be somewhat shocking if Burns didn't make his way to Cincinnati in some capacity this season. The 22-year-old right-hander hasn't met much resistance in the minors thus far, striking out 33 batters and walking six over 20.2 innings. He has triple-digit heat and quality secondary pitches, and the combination is just a little too much at the lower levels.

Burns certainly has the potential to be a late-season impact arm for the Reds, a team with postseason potential. He could be a candidate to skip Triple-A entirely if his services are urgently needed.

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