10 Defining Moments of the Decade: Matt Kemp rises in 2011

Matt Kemp was the NL Hank Aaron Award winner in 2011 and finished second in the NL MVP voting. (Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

(Editor’s note: Dodger Insider is compiling a chronological look at 10 of the most defining moments of the decade, unveiling one each day through the remainder of the year. The list begins with Matt Kemp’s 2011 season.)

by Cary Osborne

Matt Kemp was a star on the rise coming off a 2009 campaign in which he won a Gold Glove Award and Silver Slugger. Kemp was the only player in baseball to hit at least 25 home runs, drive in at least 100 runs and steal at least 30 bases with an OPS higher than .840. No Dodger had numbers like that — ever.

All told, he batted .297/.352/.490/.842 with 26 home runs, 101 RBI and 34 stolen bases.

But 2010 was sour.

After winning 95 games and the National League West division in 2009, the Dodgers started slow in 2010 and went 9–14 in April.

(Juan Ocampo/Los Angeles Dodgers)

Kemp’s performance was called into question. On a few occasions, he came to his own defense to the media when questioned about his effort and work ethic. Statistically, it was an uneven season — 28 home runs and 19 stolen bases, but a .760 OPS, 15 times caught stealing, a 25.4% strikeout rate and the most alarming regression defensively, with minus-33 defensive runs saved in center field according to FanGraphs. The Dodgers finished 80–82 in 2010 in fourth place in the NL West.

But the questions Kemp faced that year were immediately answered in 2011.

Kemp showed up leaner — and showed up to work every day with a cooler bag of personal-chef-prepared meals. In the offseason, he worked with a track coach. In season, he dedicated himself more to video study.

Kemp singled on the second pitch he saw in the 2011 regular season on March 31 — and he kept hitting for an entire season.

He had 38 hits in April — two short of the Dodger record for the month. He hit seven homers and drove in 21 runs in May. In June, he OPSed 1.268 and belted nine homers.

Kemp became the first Dodger with at least 20 home runs, 20 stolen bases and 100 hits at the All-Star Break, at which point he was hitting .313/.398/.584/.982 with 22 homers, 27 stolen bases (only caught three times) and 103 hits.

(Los Angeles Dodgers)

Kemp became one of four players all time with at least 20 homers, 25 stolen bases and a .950 OPS at the All-Star Break — the others being St. Louis Brown Ken Williams (1922), San Francisco’s Bobby Bonds (1973) and Cincinnati’s Eric Davis (1987).

On July 12, Kemp was the National League’s starting center fielder in the All-Star Game at Arizona’s Chase Field. Three days later, he jumpstarted the Dodgers’ second half with a homer and four RBI in a 6–4 Dodger win at Chase Field against the Diamondbacks.

From July 27 until the final regular season game of the year on Sept. 28, Kemp batted .346/.413/.610/1.024 with 15 home runs and 51 RBI in 58 games. He hit a home run in the final game of the season to give him the NL home run crown.

(Los Angeles Dodgers)

Kemp hit .324/.399/.586/.986 with a National League-leading 39 home runs, 115 runs, 353 total bases, a 172 OPS+ and a Major League-leading 126 RBI. He stole 40 bases and cut his defensive runs saved to minus-7 in center field. He led all NL position players with 8.0 bWAR and 8.3 fWAR.

Despite all of those numbers, Kemp finished second in the NL MVP balloting to Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun in what is still considered a controversial outcome because of Braun’s link to performance-enhancing drugs. He had a positive test from 2011 overturned, but in 2013 was suspended for the final 65 games of the MLB season for violations of the Basic Agreement and its Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program.

Braun had 7.7 bWAR and 7.1 fWAR in 2011 and his Brewers won the NL Central. The Dodgers finished that season in third place, 11 1/2 games behind the division-winning Diamondbacks.

Kemp was awarded the 2011 NL Hank Aaron Award and also took home Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards. Kemp and Barry Bonds (1996) are the only players in Major League history with at least 35 home runs, 125 RBI, 40 stolen bases and an OPS of .975 in one season.

Kemp with AL Hank Aaron Award winner Jose Bautista and then-Commissioner Bud Selig. (Ben Platt)

After the season, Kemp signed an eight-year contract with the Dodgers, which just expired after the 2019 season.

During those eight seasons, Kemp ended up playing for the Dodgers, Padres, Braves and Reds. The Dodgers traded him on Dec. 18, 2014, for Yasmani Grandal in a five-player deal.

From 2015–2017, he hit 77 home runs and knocked in 272 runs for the Padres and Braves — but the electricity on the basepaths and in the outfield regressed. Yet, Kemp still had a Hollywood ending of sorts, returning to Los Angeles in a five-player deal in the 2017 offseason. Kemp came into Spring Training as a question mark — unknown if he would be kept by the Dodgers and make the team on Opening Day 2018.

Kemp celebrates after a walk-off double on Sept. 2, 2018. (Josh Barber/Los Angeles Dodgers)

But Kemp had an outstanding first half, was voted to the NL All-Star team and had memorable late-inning clutch hits against Arizona on Sept. 1 and 2 — including a walk-off double on Sept. 2. He hit 21 home runs and OPSed .818 that season.

He also hit a home run in Game 1 of the World Series in Boston.

During the decade, Kemp led the Dodgers in home runs (142), RBI (491), hits (827) and appeared in the second-most games (798).