Category Archives: Matt Kemp

Dodgers Facing Roster Choices as Injured Players Return

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At some point before Clayton Kershaw throws the first pitch of tonight’s game against the Astros at Dodger Stadium, the Dodgers are expected to activate Jerry Hairston off the disabled list, since the veteran has reported no trouble with his sore hamstring in two rehab games for Albuquerque. On Sunday & Monday, Matt Kemp & Juan Rivera are expected to begin rehab stints of their own for the Isotopes, with Kemp scheduled to return to the Dodgers on Tuesday against Milwaukee and Rivera, healing far ahead of schedule, potentially returning later in the week. In addition, while we haven’t heard any news about a possible rehab stint for Juan Uribe, the news on his injured wrist is positive, as he’s been cleared to resume baseball activities and is eligible to return on Tuesday as well.

All of a sudden, the walking wounded are beginning to heal, and the Dodgers are going to have some roster decisions to make. If it was as simple as sending down those who were recalled to take the four spots in the first place, then the Dodgers would be bidding farewell to Justin Sellers (for Hairston), Jerry Sands (for Kemp), Elian Herrera (for Uribe), and Scott Van Slyke (for Rivera).

Of course, rarely is it ever that simple, for much has changed since they left, particularly in the middle infield. Mark Ellis is now lost until July due to his leg surgery, Dee Gordon probably would have been back in the minors by now if the injury situation hadn’t destroyed all roster flexibility, and Sellers may have his own injury concerns after being scratched from Wednesday’s lineup with leg numbness. That means the club that these veterans are returning to has no obvious second baseman, a shortstop who may not be up to the task, and could be without the main backup at both positions.

But let’s start with the obvious moves first. When Kemp & Rivera are both back, Van Slyke & Sands are each going back down. Van Slyke’s pinch-hit homer aside, neither has done a whole lot in limited time and neither is served better by riding the bench in the bigs than playing every day in the minors. I’m hardly Rivera’s biggest fan, but he’ll provide the righty alternative at first base that James Loney sorely needs and fit in with Bobby Abreu & Tony Gwynn into a left-field trio that could actually be productive if used properly.

For Hairston, well, you’ve got some infield decisions to make, and that depends in large part on Sellers. If Sellers goes to the disabled list, then he’s an easy swap for Hairston, though that comes with the downside of having to rely on Gordon (who may not be ready) and Hairston (who looked awful there in camp) at shortstop. That’d leave you with some combination of Hairston & Adam Kennedy at third and Ivan De Jesus & Herrera at second, with some mixing between the two groups. When Uribe returns, De Jesus would almost certainly be farmed out, since Herrera has played surprisingly well in his short time with the team.

If Sellers can avoid the DL, De Jesus would go down today for Hairston, probably leaving Herrera as the primary second baseman. When Uribe returns, you could send down Herrera (if you need to keep Sellers for shortstop or if he can’t keep up his hot start), or even Gordon, if he’s still struggling.

Honestly, I’d really like to see what happens if De Jesus would ever be given a real shot at every day play, and the absence of Ellis would seem to be a prime opportunity for that. But there seems to be almost no route for that to happen, not with the presence of at least five others who can spot at second and the organization’s complete reluctance to play him, calling him up only after squeezing the non-roster Herrera onto the 40-man.

Much depends on Sellers’ health, Gordon’s play, and whether this club can actually get through a full week without having to deal with another injury. But there’s always a bright side: the more healthy players you have, the less chance of having to see Aaron Miles again.

Matt Kemp Heads to DL, and That’s Not A Bad Thing

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Following Monday’s 3-1 win over Arizona, Matt Kemp was placed on the disabled list thanks to soreness in his left hamstring, and as you can imagine, that’s leading to a lot of doom-and-gloom predictions for the surprising Dodgers around baseball. It’s not great, of course, but it’s absolutely the right thing to do: the Dodgers had been without Kemp for May anyway (.212/.341/.303), and this at least allows him to properly heal without rushing back and causing a long-term problem.

Jerry Sands is coming back up to take his place, and while his struggles this year have been well-documented, at least he’s been better lately, with three homers for Albuquerque this week. If anything, this is going to lead to some pretty interesting roster maneuvering for Don Mattingly, and I’m intrigued to see how he’ll handle it. He’s shown little inclination to use Scott Van Slyke this far, and now you’ve got Sands, a very similar player who had fallen behind Van Slyke, and Elian Herrera, who everyone knows little about.

Oh, and then there’s this…

Gwynn will be the primary center fielder with Kemp on the shelf, which Mattingly doesn’t think will be more than 15 days. But Mattingly also wants to make sure Gwynn doesn’t get overused, and said he would use Andre Ethier in center field for “two or three games” with Kemp out.

I’ll place that under “I’ll believe it when I see it,” because, wow. Imagine a defensive alignment that features Bobby Abreu in right, Ethier in center, and let’s say Sands in right? Sands and Van Slyke are at least adequate at worst, but in general that might be the worst defensive outfield we’ve seen in years.

I doubt that happens too much, though, because if Gwynn’s great glove isn’t enough to overcome his lousy bat in left, it just might in center, and if Gwynn does get a day off, Herrera has experience there. Since Van Slyke has little experience at first, my guess is that we’ll see him – if we ever do – sharing time with Bobby Abreu in left, while Sands sees more time at first base than anywhere else.

And that’s not a bad thing, you know? Though I admit it’s hard to see Mattingly wanting to put in both young players at the same time, you could have both Abreu and James Loney out against tough lefties, and that immediately strengthens what had been shaping up to be a horrendous bench. (Herrera hits from both sides, increasing flexibility.)

We’ll miss Kemp, but I’m glad to see him get the time to heal properly, especially with the Dodgers enjoying such a cushion, and the spate of injuries suddenly gives Mattingly some fascinating new options. (And leaves Albuquerque with like, one outfielder.)

Superstar A.J. Ellis Helps Dodgers Win Without Role Players Kemp and Ethier

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For the first ten minutes or so of a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, the story of the day seemed like it would be about the inevitable regression back to reality from Ted Lilly, who allowed singles to each of the first four Colorado hitters plus a double steal and left the first inning down 3-0.

Three wild hours later, I’d be surprised if anyone even remembers that Lilly pitched in this game at all.

The fun started in the bottom of the third when Matt Kemp, who had already driven in the first Dodger run on a groundout in the first, bounced out to Troy Tulowitzki but was noticeably limping while trying to beat the throw. He was removed from the game, throwing his glove at the dugout wall out of frustration, clearly still bothered by the sore left hamstring which he first injured last weekend in Chicago. Honestly, I wish he’d have received a day off before this.

On most days, losing Kemp alone would be a death knell for this offense, but amazingly, it nearly ended up being a net positive in just the fifth inning alone. Kemp was replaced in center field by Tony Gwynn, moving over from left, and in the top of the fifth Gwynn turned in a highlight-reel catch off the bat of Carlos Gonzalez – a ball that a hobbled Kemp almost certainly wouldn’t have come close to. In the bottom of the inning, Colorado starter Alex White completely fell apart, loading the bases on a Justin Sellers single and walks to Gwynn & Mark Ellis. Bobby Abreu, batting in Kemp’s spot, stroked a double to the left-center field gap, scoring three and putting the Dodgers up 5-4.

But if losing Kemp wasn’t quite enough, Andre Ethier quickly followed him, getting ejected (along with Don Mattingly) for arguing balls and strikes after getting called out looking immediately after Abreu’s hit. Though Ethier had a case – the strike zone this entire series has been all over the place – generally you’d like your second-best hitter to realize that the team’s main threat just left the game not ten minutes earlier, because then you end up with a lineup that looked, at the time, like this:

Gwynn CF/MEllis 2B/Abreu LF/Van Slyke RF/Loney 1B/AJEllis C/Kennedy 3B/Sellers SS

There might be something that stands out to you about that lineup, and it’s not that it looks Giants-level bad on the surface without the two big guns, or even that we finally got to see Scott Van Slyke actually get into a game (and he was more than impressive with a two-RBI double, a walk, a steal, and a laser of a throw from right field to third base). It’s that A.J. Ellis, conqueror of worlds, god among men, follower of me on Twitter, batted higher in the lineup than his usual eighth spot, and was still productive. I know! I couldn’t believe it either.

It’s greatly shortchanging to merely say Ellis “was productive”, of course. Down 3-1 in the second, he singled to right, scoring James Loney with the second run. In the fourth, he grounded out, but only because Colorado third baseman Chris Nelson made a fantastic play on an Ellis rocket. And in the fifth, the inning that saw the Dodgers score six to go from down 4-2 to up 8-4, Ellis came up to the plate against Colorado reliever Matt Reynolds with two men on. Ellis blasted his third home run of the season to left field, driving in three and setting a career high with four runs batted in. (He would also, of course, walk later in the game, as is custom.)

So that’s where we are, apparently, right now on May 13. The Dodgers have the best record in baseball. A.J. Ellis is hitting .317/.462/.512 on his way to certain enshrinement in Cooperstown. And I’m hoping that Kemp actually takes a few days off to rest his hamstring, because suddenly, the Dodgers have more outfield depth than they know what to do with, as Van Slyke and the castoff Abreu demand playing time.

Just where we thought we’d be in April, right?

Matt Kemp Caps Off Amazing April

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I’m not sure if I can find a better way to describe Matt Kemp‘s absurd April than simply by saying this: in 2011, he had a fantastic season, one of the best offensive years in the long history of the Dodgers, a campaign which should have netted him the NL MVP even prior to any controversies around Ryan Braun. And yet despite everything he achieved last year, at no point did he even come close to having a month like the one he just completed to start off 2012.

2011
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
Mar/Apr
.368
.446
.613
1.059
May
.253
.327.
.495
.822
Jun
.375
.472
.795
1.268
Jul
.274
.324
.453
.776
Aug
.330
.400
.518
.918
Sep/Oct
.343
.419
.667
1.085
2012
BA
OBP
SLG
OPS
Apr
.417
.490
.893
1.383

Kemp’s going to cool off at some point, simply because the laws of nature dictate that he must. But what does that even mean at this point? He might “only” have an OPS of .990 some month? We joke that he’s not going to end up with 85 homers this year, and he won’t, but it’s hard not to look at his amazing 2011 stat line without a month like this and wonder just where he might end up at the end of the season.

Oh, and the Dodgers lost 6-2 to Colorado tonight, despite Kemp’s Dodger-record 12th homer of April. That’ll happen because Aaron Harang in Coors Field is generally going to turn out that way, and because the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out in the seventh and Kemp, Andre Ethier, & Juan Rivera couldn’t make anything happen. After that, the game quickly devolved into Adam Kennedy & Mike MacDougal being on the field at the same time, and I’m pretty sure I got dizzy and blacked out once that happened. It almost doesn’t matter. Matt Kemp is a wonder.

Bryce Who? Matt Kemp Does It Again

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For seven innings, the much-hyped Washington duo of Stephen Strasburg & Bryce Harper held up their end of the deal. In front of a sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium, Strasburg whiffed nine without allowing a walk, while Harper made his debut a memorable one by doubling off the wall and throwing an absolute laser from left field to the plate that would have nailed Jerry Hairston at the plate had catcher Wilson Ramos only been able to hang on to the perfect throw. Ramos’ inability to complete the play meant that Strasburg would leave after 101 pitches with a 1-1 tie, and that’s not to be taken lightly: Chad Billingsley may not have been as outright dominating as his Nationals counterpart, but when you can stay in the game for seven innings and leave standing tall against the great Strasburg, that’s an achievement not to be overlooked – although with the way the ninth inning unfolded, it almost certainly will.

Of course, this wouldn’t be the 2012 Dodgers if the game didn’t stay close into the late innings and… well, look. Sooner or later we’re going to have to acknowledge that Javy Guerra is just a mess right now, right? You can argue that he got spooked by taking a Brian McCann liner off the face the other night, but that was hardly the start of his troubles; he’s blown something like 37 games over the last two weeks. Entering in the 9th after Scott Elbert allowed a LaRoche single and induced Rick Ankiel to eliminate LaRoche via sacrifice bunt – and for the record, I have absolutely no idea why Don Mattingly yanked Elbert after just five pitches – Guerra allowed a single, a sacrifice fly, and another single, pushing two runs across and putting the Dodgers down 3-1. You can argue that Guerra is getting BABIP’d to death with all the singles if you want, but if you plan on being a late innings reliever in the bigs, you need to miss some bats, and Guerra simply has not been doing that lately. (Is that… Shawn Tolleson‘s music I hear? No, of course not.)

But that was far from the end of it. Surprisingly, the bottom of the order showed some life in the 9th, with Mark Ellis & James Loney leading off with two singles, followed by a Juan Uribe ground rule double which plated Ellis. Henry Rodriguez, touching triple digits, blew away A.J. Ellis and got the utterly useless Adam Kennedy to ground into a fielder’s choice… and then things got weird.

With two out, Rodriguez uncorked a 102 MPH wild pitch, scoring Uribe to knot the game at 3 and pushing Kennedy to second. Dee Gordon followed, feebly striking out against Rodriguez’ overwhelming heat to end the game… except that the third strike also went to the backstop, allowing Gordon to reach first and the game to continue. Tony Gwynn attemped to walk off against reliever Tom Gorzelanny, but lined out to LaRoche to end the frame.

Jamey Wright set the Nats down without trouble in the top of the tenth, and that brought Matt Kemp to the plate. Kemp crushed a Gorzelanny pitch into center for the walkoff win, and what else can you really say about Kemp? (Other than, “why in the hell would the Nationals even pitch to him there?”) Harper’s debut brought the spotlight to this game, but Kemp reminded everyone that for all of the potential about what Harper might yet be in the future, the present belongs to Beast Mode.