Phillies rookie Otto Kemp won’t hesitate to get hit by a pitch. It has happened 18 times this season already.

MIAMI — Otto Kemp is not afraid of getting drilled by a pitch.

It’s a good thing he isn’t, because it happens a lot. Last season, Kemp was hit by 29 pitches in 123 games. To put that in perspective, Randy Arozarena was hit 22 times to lead the majors that year, and he played 31 more games.

In Kemp’s 15-game stint in the Arizona Fall League last year, he was hit five times. Earlier this year, he set a Phillies record with triple-A Lehigh Valley by getting hit four times in a single game.

“Three of them were off-speed pitches,” Kemp said. “So guys were just missing, and I was the guy that they were missing to. But also, there’s not a lot of room on the inside part of the plate to miss with me.”

After getting hit by Toronto’s Bowden Francis on Saturday, his 2025 HBP total is already up to 18, including his time in the minors. Kemp thinks the reason behind the phenomenon is a mix of how pitchers attack him and his own approach. The right-hand hitter’s mindset in the batter’s box is sending the ball the opposite way, and he’s more comfortable visually when he sets up closer to the plate.

“With going that way, I tend to kind of stay on pitches a little bit longer than some,” the rookie said. “For me, getting on base leads to scoring runs. So it’s kind of something I’ve accepted is going to happen along the way.”

He’s not the first Phillie to have this habit. The 204 times Chase Utley was plunked in the regular season across his career puts him ninth all-time in major league baseball. He told the Los Angeles Times in 2018 that it took a lot of effort to “fight that tendency to move” out of the way of an incoming pitch, but felt he improved over time.

But Kemp has been this way since college at Division II Point Loma Nazarene University. He can’t recall ever being afraid of getting hit.

Even when facing Paul Skenes — who can pump 100 mph on the radar gun — in Kemp’s second game in the major leagues, he said he didn’t change his approach.

» READ MORE: Phillies prospect Andrew Painter bounces back with five scoreless innings for triple-A Lehigh Valley

“It’s kind of just always been about getting on base, trying to create havoc on the basepaths or just create runs,” Kemp said. “So any way I can do that, it just kind of developed, I would say, from college on. Our college is really big on just get on base and let the offense do its thing.”

Of course, Kemp doesn’t want to get injured and is aware of the risk. Bryce Harper missed five games last month after getting hit in the elbow with a Spencer Strider fastball, though he had also been dealing with the lingering wrist irritation that currently has him on the injured list.

Kemp would certainly prefer a base hit, like the four he collected Sunday against Toronto. But he sees taking a pitch or two — ideally in a place with some padding — as just another way to help the Phillies.

Harper did not travel with the team to Miami as was initially planned, as the Phillies decided he would benefit more from staying home and getting treatment on his right wrist injury with the staff in Philadelphia. The decision was made more out of convenience and not because of any setback, Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.

Aaron Nola (rib) did make the trip, although he is still shut down from throwing.

The first batch of All-Star votes has been released, and five Phillies rank in the top five at their positions in the National League.

Trea Turner (348,053 votes) ranks third at shortstop, Harper (276,647) is fourth at first base, Kyle Schwarber (332,097) is fourth at designated hitter, J.T. Realmuto (249,476) is fourth at catcher, and Alec Bohm (232,469) is fifth at third base.

» READ MORE: Trea Turner is feeling confident defensively. His ‘unbelievable’ sliding play can attest to it.

The Yankees’ Aaron Judge and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani lead the pack in their respective leagues. The leader in each league at the conclusion of the first phase of voting, which concludes June 26 at noon, will receive an automatic spot in his team’s starting lineup.

The top two vote-getters at each position and the top six outfielders will advance to Phase 2 on June 30.

Carlos Hernández, whom the Phillies designated for assignment on June 11, was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers. … Jesús Luzardo (6-2, 4.23 ERA) is scheduled to face his former team on Tuesday, starting against Miami right-hander Cal Quantrill (3-7, 5.61).