Matt Kemp: Dodgers' Star Wrong to Participate in Home Run Derby

Matt Kemp shouldn't be participating in the 2012 Home Run Derby.

It's foolish of him to risk re-aggravating his sore hamstring in such a meaningless competition when his team so desperately needs him to be healthy for the second half of the season.

Kemp hasn't even been taken off the Dodgers' disabled list yet since being put there at the end of May, but somehow it's OK for him to go out there and swing for the fences? That isn't right. 

What Kemp is doing is disrespectful to his teammates, his fans and the players who deserved to take his spot instead.

Home run derbies don't account for anything—unless you count the stroke of an ego. The Dodgers aren't going to be able to compete for the pennant in the National League West without him, and if he gets hurt during the derby, they'll be doomed.

I'm not the only one with this opinion, either. 

The Los Angeles Times Bill Plaschke wrote:

"

I'm one of those people. I think he shouldn't do it. I know all the medical evidence supports Kemp, but I still think he shouldn't do it...The Dodgers wouldn't let him play in the actual All-Star game because he hasn't played an actual game for them. What makes the home run competition any different?

"

To answer Plaschke's question, absolutely nothing.

There is not a single good reason for Kemp to participate in this derby. He should have made his return with his team in a regular game, not as a centerpiece for one of the sport's biggest individual spectacles.

Kemp is in the wrong here. He should have allowed another player—someone who's been healthy all year—to take his spot. Let's hope for his sake that he doesn't do something that proves my point tonight.

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