MLB Player Profile: Matt Kemp
Matthew Ryan, famously known as Matt Kemp, represents Los Angeles Dodgers as an out-fielder. Born on September 23, 1984 Kemp made a gradual rise and became part of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2006.
While he was drafted in the Dodgers in 2003, he started his Minor League career with Gulf Coast Dodgers in 2003. Being drafted there, he grabbed further attention by the exploits he put in place and became part of Columbus Catfish in 2004.
He subsequently got induction in Vero Beach Dodgers in 2004-05. The meteoric rise began from then onwards when he was named the Florida State League All-Star team in 2005. Kemp made a record for his 27 home-runs with (.569) slugging percentage.
Throughout the years, there have been significant improvements in this player’s performance apart from few downturns that were virtually inevitable. However, his distinctly good performance certainly outweighs inconsistency.
What prompted his promotion to the Major League are his seven homers with .327 hit, including 34 RBIs and 11 steals. He was pretty lucky on that account as well, as his promotion was fortunately expedited due in part because of Kenny Lofton’s injury and
All-Star J. D. Drew.
Equally luckily, coupled with his exceptionally great exposition of the talent, Kemp had three consecutive games with homers, starting from June 1 to 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies. That did not stop there.
He homered twice on June 11 against the Colorado Rockies. Among other things, ever since his debut with Dodgers in April 2006, he became the fifth Major League player and the first Dodger, to hit four homers in his first 10 days of the game.
In 2009, Kemp was the first Dodgers who had a hitting average of .295 with 25 home-runs and 100 RBIs. That year, he finished third in the National League with a .297 average, having 26 home-runs to his credit.
In 2009, he proudly received the Golden Glove Award and the Silver Slugger Award, which – for a player of his age, was no ordinary achievement.
The 2010 season was not particularly exciting for Matt Kemp. Despite being impressive in the first half of the season, the second remained unexpectedly bad for him with a .249 batting average, casting a shadow on his overall performance.
This was something he even referred to in an interview and said, “Last year was a disappointing year for me individually and team wise, we didn’t do what we needed to do to make the playoffs and I could’ve done a lot better than I did last year. So we still
have a lot to prove, I still have a lot to prove.”
In 2011, he has been performing far better having been voted in the 2011 Major League Baseball All-Star game.
“I'm comfortable now, but it's just knowing that I've always dreamed of playing in the big leagues since I was five years old. Since I've been playing tee ball, I've always wanted to be here. I'm here now and I don't have a full year in yet, but I feel like
it's still a dream come true.”
In 2011, having played 92 games this season with 320 at-bats, Kemp has scored 55 runs with 103 hits to his credit, having 22 home-runs and 67 RBIs. His average stands at .313 with a .486 SLG.
He indeed has a long way to go and as he has proved himself the single most important part of the team, the Dodgers will look to him as the most instrumental player to win the team glory.
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