Former BlueClaws Kemp, McGarry Named Paul Owens Award Winners

JERSEY SHORE, NJ - Former BlueClaws Otto Kemp and Griff McGarry were named winners of the Paul Owens Award for Phillies Minor League Players of the Year, it was announced by the Phillies on September 22nd.

Kemp joined the BlueClaws in 2023 and spent the early part of the 2024 season in ShoreTown. In 2023, he helped the BlueClaws reach the postseason for the first time in five years. In 2024, he hit .333 in 41 games with Jersey Shore, adding four home runs and eight stolen bases. This year, he hit .310 in 74 games with Lehigh Valley and made his big league debut on June 7th, becoming the 127th player to go From the Shore, to the Show.

🦀 Tie game, bottom of the 7th...here's Otto Kemp! pic.twitter.com/LCx3o4mDdP

— Jersey Shore BlueClaws (@BlueClaws) May 28, 2024

Kemp was signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent in 2022 out of Point Loma Nazarene (CA).

McGarry, a 5th round pick in 2021 from the University of Virginia, made 12 starts with the BlueClaws in 2022, going 3-3 with a 3.86 ERA and adding 82 strikeouts in 46.2 innings of work. He spent most of this year with Reading, where he had 103 strikeouts in 72 innings with a 3.25 ERA. He finished the season with one start in Lehigh Valley, allowing one run in five innings with eight strikeouts.

No. 8 @Phillies prospect Griff McGarry recorded 16 outs -- 13 of them came via the K for the @BlueClaws' righty 🤯 pic.twitter.com/LcX9Jwmcrn

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) June 23, 2022

Last year's Owens Award winners were 2024 BlueClaws Justin Crawford and Eiberson Castellano while 2023's winners were former BlueClaws Johan Rojas and Orion Kerkering.

-Jersey Shore BlueClaws-