Los Angeles Dodgers: Why Matt Kemp Will Have a Better Career Than Ryan Braun

Matt Kemp and Ryan Braun are two of the most promising young stars in baseball. Kemp is 27 years old with six seasons under his belt, while Milwaukee's Braun is 28 with five stellar seasons.

The two National League stars battled neck and neck for the MVP award last season, which ended up going to Braun. Kemp wasn’t hanging his head, though, as he was honored with the Silver Slugger Award as the best offensive center fielder in the NL.

While Braun has garnered most of the attention for his impressive play, Kemp’s on-field success skyrocketed last season. Which begs the question—who will be the better player in the long term?

There’s no denying that both are tremendous talents, but Matt Kemp is set to have a better career than his fellow NL star.

Here’s why.

Development

Although Ryan Braun has been a consistent producer in his five seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers, he has reached a plateau in his MLB career.

That’s not to say that he can’t improve (and his numbers are pretty impressive as is), but we know we can expect around 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in from the former Miami Hurricane star.

Kemp, however, is on the rise and seems to have a limitless future in sight for himself.

After putting up decent numbers (around 20 home runs and 80 RBI) in the beginning years of his career, Kemp exploded last season for 39 home runs, 126 RBI, and a .324 batting average. To add to that, he also stole 40 bases.

Kemp has worked out the kinks in his batting (e.g. his issues with pitches low-and-outside or curveballs on the outer half) and has become a smart and confident ball player.

Having matured as a player, Kemp’s potential is endless. Embracing a leadership role on the Dodgers, the Oklahoma native has the will to win and the raw talent to make it happen.

Although he may not go 50-50 in home runs and steals this season as he declared before this season, Kemp hasn’t finished developing and will be unstoppable once he has.

Health

Both players have been relatively healthy throughout their pro careers, but Braun has had a recurring calf injury that could halt his success.

Although a calf injury may not be the most serious of injuries in baseball, any recurring injury can nag a player and affect his play considering baseball’s intense schedule that has teams playing five or more times per week.

Braun seems to be fine this season and hasn’t had issue yet, but don’t be surprised to see him intermittently relegated to the dugout this season nursing the same calf injury.

Kemp, on the other hand, has remained healthy and has yet to have any serious recurring injuries. He briefly experienced tightness in his hamstring last season, but was able to quickly rebound and rejoing the Dodgers lineup.

Both players are relatively young right now, so they don’t have to worry as much about their recovery time, but as they approach the later stages of their careers, this will play a bigger role in their overall successes.

The Complete Package

While Braun and Kemp are both powerful and speedy guys, Kemp is quicker than Braun and has a slight power advantage over him, which gives him an overall advantage.

Braun can steal bases—and, in fact, stole a career-high 33 bags last season—but in the long run he will probably be good for around 15 SBs a season, whereas Kemp will most likely swipe at least 30 bags a year.

That would put Braun (if he continues on his current trajectory) averaging 30 HRs, 100 RBI, and 15 SBs per year; whereas Kemp’s on a path to average similar numbers but with more stolen bases and better defensive play.

Conclusion

The general conclusion is that both Kemp and Braun have the potential to have tremendous careers as they have proved thus far in the big leagues.

However, Kemp has the odds in his favor to out-do Braun and be a better player for the entire duration of his career. Again, we’ve yet to see him reach his peak, and he appears to have the will and healthy track record to set that bar very high.

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