Can Matt Kemp escape gravity?

Phil Gurnee ♦ June 15, 2018 ♦ Leave a comment

Much has been made about the resurgence of Matt Kemp but we need to keep one very important thing in mind. Matt Kemp had an OPS in 2017 of .922 on this date.  It is not like Matt Kemp stopped hitting a baseball and shocked the world with what he has done in 2018. He did exactly the same thing in 2017. The big question is, can he continue to do it for the rest of the year or will gravity take him down as it did in 2017.

As noted above his OPS was .922 on June 14th, 2017. That was the last time it would be that high. By the end of June, it had dropped to .869. By the end of July, it had dropped to .813.  It pretty much stabilized at that point with Matt ending the season with a .781 OPS.

Everyone seems to be saying this is a different Matt Kemp but I wonder what they were saying in Atlanta on June 14th, 2017?

Either way, there is no argument that so far in 2018, Matt Kemp has performed at an all-star level. Eventually, he is going to have a slump, how deep and how long is the only question? Luckily the Dodgers still have a plethora of outfielders waiting in the wings if it does get ugly.

Andrew Toles is playing once again back in AAA. Alex Verdugo is still honing his immense skills in AAA.  Max Muncy can actually play the outfield. All are left-handed and maybe the way to keep Matt fresh is for a right-handed left fielder to show up on the roster.  With Chris Taylor now a permanent fixture at shortstop, Kiké is now the only right-handed hitting outfielder on the roster and he’s being used to platoon with Joc in CF on the days that Cody Bellinger is not the CF.

Matt Kemp helped carry the Dodgers when they needed his offense the most. If he does slump this summer, it will be upto the rest of the lineup to help carry Matt Kemp.

Maybe he never slumps and never gets hurt and beasts like this all year.

Maybe

Is anyone betting on it? I’m sure the Dodgers aren’t.