Former Houston Astros prospect Jon Kemmer has died at the age of 35 after suffering a rollover car crash in Texas over the weekend.
Kemmer, who played in the minor leagues during his time with the Astros, was returning home to Santa Fe after coaching a travel tournament in Houston when the fatal collision occurred in Galveston County.
According to Explore Jefferson, an outlet near his hometown in Pennsylvania, the left fielder was traveling on a rural road when his car struck an electrical pole shortly after 6pm local time. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
It is believed Kemmer was alone in his vehicle at the time of the crash.
The player-turned-coach had been working at the HTX Battle Bucks 14U travel baseball team at the Triple Play Classic in Houston earlier that day.
In his formative years, Kemmer was regarded as a prodigy after hitting .727 in his senior year at high school and .387 with a 1.206 OPS in his final college season.
Former Houston Astros prospect Jon Kemmer has died at the age of 35 following a car crash
Kemmer, who played in the minor leagues, was traveling home from coaching a travel tournament when the collision occurred
He was selected by the Astros out of Georgia’s Brewton-Parker College in the 21st round of the 2013 MLB Draft, before making it all the way to Triple-A in 2019 after playing in spring training in 2017 and 2018.
However, his career was eventually derailed when the Covid-19 pandemic led to the cancellation of the minor league season.
After heading to the Dominican Winter League in 2020, Kemmer never made another minor league appearance. That stint turned out to be his last in professional baseball.
He also enjoyed spells with Mexico’s Triple-A level in 2019 and the Oklahoma City Dodgers, Los Angeles’ Triple-A squad, during his career.
