After the 2011 Major League Baseball season the Los Angeles Dodgers invested $160 million dollars in outfielder Matt Kemp. In the past two seasons since Kemp signed his 8-year extension with the Dodgers he has only appeared in 168 games. In that time he has totaled just 28 home runs with 96 runs batted in. Before signing his extension Kemp was coming off of a 2011 season where he finished second in the National League MVP race as he hit 39 home runs and 126 runs batted in to go with a .324 batting average and 40 stolen bases.
After starting this season with a record of 30-42, the Dodgers are currently in first place of the NL West with a record of 85-60. The Dodgers are 12 games in front of the second place Arizona Diamondbacks with just 17 games remaining in the regular season.
Kemp’s 2012 season was hampered by injuries to his hamstring and shoulder. Kemp’s 2013 season got off to a slow start as he still was suffering the effects of colliding with the outfield wall at Coors Field in Denver late in the 2012 season. Kemp’s hamstring has derailed his 2013 campaign as he hasn’t been in the Dodgers lineup consistently since late May. Kemp returned to the Dodgers lineup after the MLB All-Star break, but his return was just a cameo appearance as he injured his ankle while sliding into home plate against the Washington Nationals on July 21. While rehabbing his ankle, Kemp has once again suffered a setback to his hamstring and the Dodgers have shut him down. In 251 plate appearances this season Kemp is batting .263 with 5 home runs and 28 runs batted in.
The Dodgers have star players on their roster such as outfielder Yasiel Puig, shortstop Hanley Ramirez and first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, but Kemp was expected to be the center piece. Unlike Puig, Ramirez, and Gonzalez, Kemp was drafted by the Dodgers and groomed to be their five-tool player that would help them win their first World Series Title since 1988. After former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt sold the team to its current owner in the Guggenheim Baseball Group in 2012, Kemp was the
Dodgers player on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Magic Johnson. Kemp is Mr. Hollywood as he was the former boyfriend of pop sensation Rihanna. Now Kemp has fallen into the category of just another MLB player that received a huge payday only to not put up the numbers that were expected of him.
Kemp has all of the tools needed to be one of the greatest to ever wear Dodger blue, but that ability isn’t being harnessed while he is on the disabled list. At this point Dodgers manager Don Mattingly isn’t even counting on having Kemp available for the postseason which is a shame. Aside from Puig, Ramirez, Gonzalez, and Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Kemp has the star power of Hollywood and the capability to back it up on the diamond, but when more than 53,000 fans are ready to pack Dodger Stadium next month for the MLB Playoffs, Kemp could be the most expensive spectator there cheering on his comrades.
Source:Baseball-reference.com
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