Sports Cipher

Kemp shakes Triple A baseball, doesn’t play well coming off injury

Currently, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in a four-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers. Tonight, the Brewers edged the Dodgers, 2-1. For the past 15 days, Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Matt Kemp was placed on the disabled list. Kemp has missed 13 games but refuses to miss anymore. He claimed that he was ready to play for Tuesday’s game. Kemp probably feels that he is 100 percent for Wednesday’s game as well. Unfortunately, Kemp needs to keep practicing. The first night his return, Kemp was 0-3. The center fielder was out with a hamstring injury he obtained while playing a game against the Colorado Rockies two weeks ago. Without him, the Dodgers have been 8-5, now overall 32-17.

With one of the best records in the MLB, the Dodgers are still unstoppable even without the center fielder. Kemp isn’t the backbone to the team but he does contribute to their success. At the time of his injury, he was hitting .359 with 12 homers, 28 RBIs and a .446 on-base percentage. One of the things he contributed to the team was his streak. He had the longest streak of consecutive games in MLB recording 399 games.

Kemp travels down to Triple A baseball

The Albuquerque Isotopes are a minor league baseball affiliate of the Dodgers. Kemp was able to play down there until he could bounce back and start again. He went 5 for 7 with a double and two home runs.

Kemp’s Comments

“It felt like a month,” Kemp said of his two-week DL stint, just the second of his career and the first since 2007. “I woke up this morning feeling like it was Opening Day. I’m pretty excited … to get back out there and be with the boys.”

Regarding his interrupting consecutive game streak, Kemp said, “Since the streak is over, I guess he probably is going to give me a couple of days off here and there,” Kemp said. “He is going to have to fight to get me out of the lineup. I definitely didn’t want to take those two weeks off, but it certainly didn’t hurt.”

Does Kemp need more rest?

He’s fine. After a few days in the minor leagues, Kemp is trying to come off an injury and get back in the swing of things. He’s already destroyed his streak, which is probably not the most important thing to him. What’s positive about this scenario is the fact that Kemp is feeling no pain and is TRYING to play well. He isn’t slacking and isn’t looking for a “pity party” for his poor performance tonight. Kemp should return as the Dodger we know and love quickly.