Matt Kemp: L.A. Dodgers All-Star Reveals Blueprint to NL MVP Success

Whether Matt Kemp actually wins the NL MVP or not is irrelevant. Baseball’s traditionalism will likely favor Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder by virtue of their strong seasons for a first-place Milwaukee Brewers club, or Justin Upton for his with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The fact is, though, the Dodgers center fielder deserves the award. 

And not just for putting up the third season of at least 30 home runs and 30 steals in the franchise’s long and storied history, and close to the first 40-40 season by a Dodger, though that sort of statistical marvel is impressive in and of itself. 

Even if it does nestle his name so nauseatingly close to former Dodger 30-30 guy Raul Mondesi in the almanacs.

If an MVP Plays in the 'Wood… 

No, what’s most impressive about Kemp, what’s most indicative of his MVP worthiness, is not what he’s done, but rather how he’s done it. 

With (almost) no one watching, on a team that hasn’t had a prayer for the postseason since 2009, just one campaign removed from the low point of his young and promising career.

He’d get that recognition, those rounds of applause and standing ovations from baseball fans in L.A., if team owner and egotistical martyr Frank McCourt would finally give up his reign of terror in Chavez Ravine. 

Folks around the Dodgers have known full well of Matt Kemp’s tremendous talents and boundless potential ever since his first cup of coffee with the big club. That was 2006, when, as a wide-eyed 21-year-old with ability practically oozing out of his ears, he hit four homers in a 10-day span. 

“He can change the outcome of the game with his glove, with his baserunning or with his bat,” remarked Chad Billingsley, who made his major league pitching debut with the Blue Crew just two months after Kemp’s call-up. “He’s one of those elite players in the league.” 

Or at least he’s always had the potential to be one of those guys, mentioned alongside the likes of Albert Pujols and Miguel Cabrera. Then again, Matt possesses a depth and breadth of tools that neither of those players, and frankly no one else in baseball, can really hold a candle to.

“He’s always had that in him,” said Clayton Kershaw, who, like Kemp, is in the midst of an award-worthy season as the front-runner for the NL Cy Young. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together and this year, he’s done it. He combines all his talent with some hard work and that’s what you get. It’s pretty impressive.”

Five Tools, One Season 

Matt’s a five-tool player in the truest sense of the word. He can hit for average (.319, third in the NL) and power (32 home runs, also third in the league). He’s got speed on the basepaths (37 steals, tied for second), a cannon for an arm (11 outfield assists, tied for tops in the NL) and a spectacular, “gold” glove to boot. 

Each of those abilities he showed off only in fits and spurts in previous seasons, albeit the sorts of fits and spurts for which most ballplayers would sell their souls to the devil—or dope up. 

It’s rather telling that his 2010 campaign, wherein he slugged 28 home runs and drove in 89 men—pretty good production, to say the least—was considered a severe disappointment. Of course, his .249 batting average, 170 strikeouts (a single-season team record) and woeful 56 percent success rate on stolen base attempts gave more than enough of an impression that young Matt was not yet fit for stardom, not yet mature enough to put in the work to maximize his talent. 

Not when everyone had seen him blossom just the year prior, when he hit .297 with 26 homers and 101 RBI while stealing 34 bases in 42 tries.

Bringing Everything into Focus

So what’s been the difference? Why now, in 2011, with seemingly nothing to play for, has Kemp suddenly ascended to superstardom in a city that would not watch him play if it meant putting another dollar in McCourt’s pocket? 

First-year manager Don Mattingly put it best: 

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“Matt’s just been focused. From day one of spring training, before we even got to workouts, he was out there with Davey [Lopes] early, working on base running and I feel like he’s worked hard on his defense this year. He’s worked hard on his throwing, so he’s just been focused. “ 

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Focused, like any seasoned veteran who finally has his head screwed on straight. Kemp drew plenty of criticism last year for his poor attitude and lackadaisical work ethic, the predictable habits of a kid with all the talent in the world who could seemingly outperform his peers with half the effort. 

That is, until he encountered the sobering truth—that in any professional sport, and particularly in baseball, you need to put in the work to stay one step ahead of your opponent, if not two. 

The physical ability has always been there. It’s the mental maturity, hard-earned rather than God-given, that’s put Matt over the top this year. 

“You’re seeing his mind now catch up to his athleticism and his swing and his strength,” said Aaron Miles, who’s played alongside greatness before, in Colorado with Todd Helton and in St. Louis with Pujols. “He’s really the complete player now. He’s a smart hitter to go along with just amazing power and a great swing.”

Lessons Put into Practice 

Dodgers first base coach Davey Lopes, who returned to his old stomping grounds at Dodger Stadium this year after winning a ring with the Philadelphia Phillies, has played an integral part in getting Kemp to make kinetic the remaining potential that laid dormant until 2011. 

“He’s meant a lot,” Kemp said. “He’s taught me about baserunning, being smart on the bases and looking for certain things. He’s just a great teacher.” 

Just the kind of teacher that Kemp, once something of a snot-nosed baseball brat, needed to become a humble All-Star and an MVP. 

Beyond his work on the bases, which has been exemplary this season, Kemp’s approach at the plate has seen a leveling-out between patience and power. For the first time in his career, Kemp is on pace to finish the season with an on-base percentage at or above the all-important .400 mark, thanks to a more discerning batter’s eye and hours of studying opposing pitchers. 

“He knows his strengths better,” Miles added. “He knows how the pitchers are going to attack him. I think he’s a lot smarter of a hitter and that comes with experience.” 

First baseman James Loney, who made his major league debut but one day before Kemp did, agreed:

“I think as far as the pitchers facing him, he’s a tough out every time. He’s never giving anything away and he’s focused on every at-bat.” 

The key to that improvement, Matt revealed, is simple: 

“Trying to get better and better every year, trying to be more consistent. Understanding what pitchers are trying to do in certain situations and taking advantage of pitchers’ mistakes.” 

And You Think He’s Good Now? 

Effusive as the praise has been for him this season, Matt still has a ways to go. For all the work he’s put in at the batting cages and in the film room, Kemp has managed to strike out 137 times this season, the seventh-most of any player in the NL, though he is the sixth-most walked player in the league with 69 bases on balls. 

At 26 years of age, Matt has yet to reach his true ceiling, which is a scary thought for the rest of the league considering how good he is already. 

“He’s just trying to put all the pieces together and he’s one of those guys,” Mattingly continued. “There’s not many guys who can hit the ball like that, so for him to keep working, keep trying to harness that swing of his.”

No, Adrian! 

There remains no shortage of reasons to be cynical, especially for a fanbase that has become accustomed to seeing slugging superstars come and go over the last two decades. Kemp could very well follow that well-beaten path from L.A., particularly if the ownership situation isn’t settled (or, hopefully, changed) by the end of the 2012 season, after which he will be a free agent. 

The Dodgers and their fans have seen this script before. It was seven years ago that L.A. had its last real MVP contender, when Adrian Beltre awoke from his six-year slumber to slam 48 homers and drive in 121 runs while hitting .334 with an OPS of 1.017.  Beltre finished second in the voting behind Barry Bonds and promptly bolted for bigger bucks in Seattle, only to return to his days of disappointment before playing for a new contract suddenly reawakening in Boston and Texas. 

A guy who came up to the big leagues when he was very young, perhaps too young, with tremendous talent at a premium position, who finally fulfilled his promise before catching the first flight out of town. 

A story arch that, horrific as it is to suggest, might fit Kemp a year from now as well as it did Beltre back in 2004.

Enjoy Kemp While He’s Here 

But for now, Kemp is a Dodger and he bleeds Dodger Blue, and if Braun and Fielder split the vote and Upton continues to toil in anonymity, he’ll be the NL MVP—and deservedly so, regardless of the Blue Crew being a full 11.5 games behind the first-place D-Backs in the NL West. 

To once again invoke the wise words of Aaron Miles, a man whose physical stature belies his keen understanding of the game of baseball: 

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“He’s having an MVP season. There’s not anybody that’s more important to his team than he is to us. He’s the most important guy on our team and we wouldn’t be nearly as good of a team without him. There are some players like that in the league and he’s one of them.”

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Because as average as the Dodgers have been this season, at 69-72, they’d be even worse without his steady bat and on-field leadership. 

Tough to prove a negative, though Kemp’s vibes have been nothing but positive this season, for the first time in his now-burgeoning baseball career and for which he’s earned a pat on the back.

If not some hefty hardware.

Josh Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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