Kane Kepley spent much of his baseball career trying to convince people he belonged. He still plays that way, despite his status as a second-round MLB Draft pick and the No. 5 prospect in the Chicago Cubs organization.
The 5-foot-8, 180-pound outfielder spent his entire childhood understanding he wasn't built like the players who received the most attention. Yet, when Kepley was promoted to the Double-A Knoxville Smokies midway through the season, he arrived as the highest-ranked prospect on a roster reshaped by promotions and trades.
Now, Kepley will look to help lead the Smokies through their final home series of the regular season when they return to Covenant Health Park on Sept. 1 to face the Chattanooga Lookouts, before playoff baseball returns
to Knoxville later this month.
For all the attention Kepley has received as a prospect, his approach to the game has remained.
His jersey is often smeared with dirt, and it's been that way since he started playing Little League. He built his game around the little things − crashing into outfield walls, taking the extra base and playing through injuries.
Get tickets to the Knoxville Smokies at Covenant Health Park!
Those traits carried the undersized athlete from Salisbury, North Carolina, to a Division I opportunity as a walk-on and eventually made him an early-round draft pick by one of Major League Baseball's most historic franchises.
"You shouldn't be able to tell who got paid, who didn't," Kepley told Knox News. "So that's the way I go about it."
Kane Kepley: 'I got rejected, and that pissed me off'
Kepley knew he had the talent to play Division I baseball. He wasn't sure college coaches would see it.
His father was a former wrestler who wasn't particularly big himself. Kepley had already surpassed him in height, but he didn't expect a sudden sprout into a prototypical baseball frame. He focused on what he could control, but the scholarship offers never came.
As his friends committed to Division I programs, Kepley barely drew interest from Division II schools.
"I can't sugarcoat nothing," Kepley said. "I got rejected, and that pissed me off."
Kepley doesn't think his story is unique. Every player has something that motivates them, he said, and his motivation just happens to be the rejection that followed him throughout his amateur career. The desire to prove doubters wrong sticks with him today.
"I mean, that's just the way I'm natured," he said.
Kepley accepted a walk-on offer from Liberty University, where he expected to sit and learn from the outfielders ahead of him. But one month into the season, head coach Scott Jackson kept giving Kepley opportunities in situations where his playing style could influence a game.
Kepley played in 50 games as a freshman, posting a .457 on-base percentage and becoming a bat Jackson could rely on. Kepley was "by far the hardest worker that we had in that Liberty locker room," former teammate Brayden Horton told Knox News, and "he absolutely earned every bit of what he had."
"You come from not knowing if you're going to play at all to playing every day and being the key to the lineup," Kepley said. "And if you don't perform well, the team's going to lose. That was that was the way I kind of thought about it. And I embraced it, you know? I love being that type of guy."
During a series at Middle Tennessee State in March 2024, Kepley hit three home runs, including the first multi-homer game of his career. Former roommate Todd Hudson remembers it as one of the moments Kepley showed how much his game had developed. And he noticed Kepley's growth away from the field, too.
"His concern for others, and just his lack of needing to be praised for himself, is what stood out to me over my two years with him," Hudson told Knox News.
Kepley credits part of that change to teammates Brayden Horton and Hudson, who led a Bible study together at Liberty and whose example challenged him to reevaluate his priorities. After being baptized in 2024, Kepley said, he developed an "on-off switch" for baseball. He still cared deeply about winning but no longer allowed the result of a game to define everything else.
"I think he realizes baseball isn't the end-all, be-all," Horton said. "He sees that his performance isn't necessarily going to dictate what his worth is."
Kepley's fire never disappeared. He just learned how to control it.
The doubts stick with the 5-foot-8 Smokies outfielder
Kepley transferred to the University of North Carolina after two years at Liberty and played his way into a second-round selection by the Cubs in 2025. His rise through professional baseball has been just as rapid, spending just 28 games in Single-A before beginning the 2026 season in High-A South Bend.
After stealing 50 bases with a .435 on-base percentage to lead South Bend to a first-half title, Kepley earned a Double-A promotion to Knoxville, where he posted a .413 on-base percentage in his first month with 12 stolen bases.
Kepley has not erased the doubts that fueled his rise. He quiets them when he steps into the batter's box and reflects on them when he shows up the next day.
"As a true competitor in a sport, you remember that stuff and how it made you feel," Kepley said. "And it fuels you. That's going to stick with me for the rest of my career."
Get tickets to the Knoxville Smokies at Covenant Health Park!
The success hasn't softened the way he plays. Kepley embraces the bruises that come with his style of baseball, absorbing five hit-by-pitches in his first 20 games with Knoxville and wearing them as another way to help his team − whatever it takes to win.
Kepley doesn't mind if people still question his size or whether he belongs. He's spent his entire career proving them wrong.
"I ain't going to forget about that when I'm playing in the big leagues," he said.
Trevor McGee covers the Knoxville Smokies and One Knox SC for Knox News. Email: trevor.mcgee@knoxnews.com; X: @TrevorMcGee12
Smokies back home at Covenant Health Park
The Smokies are 29-27 in the second half as of Aug. 31 and sit second in the Southern League North. Knoxville already secured a postseason berth by winning the first-half division title and will host playoff baseball later this month.
Fans can purchase tickets for the upcoming series against the Chattanooga Lookouts at MiLB.com/Knoxville.
- 7 p.m. Sept. 1: Taco Tuesday (all-you-can-eat taco buffet for $19.99 presale or $24.99 day of game)
- 7 p.m. Sept. 2: All-You-Can-Eat Wednesday (buffet available for $29 in advance or $34 day of game)
- 7 p.m. Sept. 3: Thirsty Thursday (half-price draft beer), Knox Vegas (themed jerseys), College Night ($10 tickets for college students)
- 7 p.m. Sept. 4: Chick-fil-A Friday (two tickets and two coupons for $48), Feel-Good Friday, Knoxville Ice Bears Night in collaboration with Vols of Honor
- 7 p.m. Sept. 5: Fan Appreciation Night, Summer Fireworks Series
- 2 p.m. Sept. 6: No promotions scheduled
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Smokies' top prospect Kane Kepley fueled by doubters as playoffs approach | Exclusive
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