JAWS and the 2026 Corridor of Fame Poll: Matt Kemp

The next article is a part of Jay Jaffe’s ongoing take a look at the candidates on the BBWAA 2026 Corridor of Fame poll. For an in depth introduction to this yr’s poll, and different candidates within the sequence, use the device above; an introduction to JAWS might be discovered right here. For a tentative schedule, see right here. All WAR figures check with the Baseball Reference model except in any other case indicated.

From being known as out publicly by his normal supervisor, supervisor, and third base coach throughout an traditionally wretched season one yr, to being robbed of an MVP award after falling simply in need of a 40-homer, 40-steal marketing campaign the subsequent, Matt Kemp was an enigma. As a result of he centered extra on basketball than baseball rising up, his instincts for the game typically lagged behind his bodily skills, however at his greatest, he was a famous person, and a sight to behold due to his velocity and energy — a mix of traits that earned him the nickname “The Bison.” He made three All-Star groups and gained two Gold Gloves (regardless of subpar metrics), however sadly, a sequence of accidents to his shoulders and legs compromised these skills. The $160 million contract he signed after that near-MVP 2011 season turned a millstone that despatched him from group to group throughout its eight-year run.

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Matthew Ryan Kemp was born on September 23, 1984 in Midwest Metropolis, Oklahoma, the son of Carl Kemp and Judy Henderson. Carl labored as a discipline supervisor for Oklahoma Gasoline and Electrical, whereas Judy labored as a nursing assistant and at a restaurant whereas pregnant. After Matt was born, she earned her diploma and have become a registered nurse.

Whereas rising up in Midwest Metropolis, a suburb of Oklahoma Metropolis, Matt lived with Judy and her mom, a dressmaker named Doris Mukes; his father was an lively presence, and he was surrounded by aunts, uncles, and cousins as properly. As a baby, he performed Little League baseball, acquired hooked on watching the Braves on TBS with one in every of his cousins, and known as Frank Thomas and Ken Griffey Jr. his favourite gamers. By his personal admission, he was chubby as a baby, however earned the nickname “The Little Massive Harm” and loved taking part in the Massive Harm Baseball online game.

For all of that, basketball was Kemp’s old flame. At Midwest Metropolis Excessive College, he starred as a 6-foot-4 guard on a group with future Duke College star and Boston Celtic Shelden Williams, incomes All-Metropolis honors and serving to his group win back-to-back state titles. Regardless of scholarship presents from faculties such because the College of Oklahoma, Oral Roberts, and Wichita State, Kemp didn’t have the grades to keep up a Division I basketball scholarship.

“He was the most effective basketball gamers to come back via Midwest Metropolis,” Rodney Dindy, his highschool coach, advised The Oklahoman in 2005. “He was a 6-foot-4 guard who may get to the basket. He may rating and he was sturdy… He at all times had the angle that he was going to achieve success.”

Given Kemp’s measurement and his school prospects, his father satisfied him that baseball offered a greater alternative for achievement. Solely centered on the diamond as a senior, he earned All-Metropolis and All-State honors and “created a buzz amongst space scouts because the draft approached,” as Baseball America wrote in its 2003 pre-draft analysis whereas noting his athleticism and lack of polish: “Kemp has an enthralling velocity/energy mixture. He has few baseball instincts as he’s simply studying the sport.”

As MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick wrote in 2011, Kemp “confirmed up on the Dodgers’ radar accidentally, in accordance with [scouting director Logan] White, who joined scout Mike Leuzinger at a event trying to see a hyped left-handed pitcher who by no means made it. White, nonetheless, favored the proper fielder with the ‘child fats,’ was assured Kemp would make the swap from basketball and signed him for $130,000.”

That bonus got here after the Dodgers drafted Kemp within the sixth spherical in 2003; their first-round decide that yr was righty Chad Billingsley. Kemp started his skilled profession with the Dodgers’ rookie-level Gulf Coast League affiliate, battling homesickness and hitting simply .270/.298/.346 in 43 video games; his one homer and two steals all occurred through the season’s ultimate recreation. “The primary yr, I might get numerous voice messages — ‘Don’t find out about this Matt Kemp child. Very lengthy swing,’” White advised Gurnick.

Kemp began to place it collectively in 2004, hitting .288/.330/.499 with 17 homers and eight steals at A-level Columbus earlier than a late-season promotion to Excessive-A Vero Seaside, the place he returned for the 2005 season and hit .306/.349/.569 with 27 homers — 22 in a hitter-friendly residence park, with a .749 SLG — and 23 steals in simply 109 video games. Whereas taking part in within the Arizona Fall League after that breakout season, he lived with Junior Spivey, then a Nationals infielder and an Oklahoma Metropolis native. “We wouldn’t work out for 2 hours a day, we’d work out for seven or eight hours,” Kemp advised the Los Angeles Occasions’ Steve Henson in 2006. “He advised me to not complain about it, simply get in there and bust it.” The exercises helped Kemp shed his child fats; he dropped from 250 kilos to 230, along with his physique fats lowering from 18% to eight%.

“Kemp continues to be extra reliant on athleticism than a superb method on the plate, and is especially vexed by breaking stuff,” wrote Baseball Prospectus in its 2006 annual e book; Baseball America ranked him no. 96 on its Prime 100 Prospects record that spring, echoing that theme however noting that he did make changes over the course of the earlier season.

The Dodgers had been coming off a 71-91 season and a busy winter, having employed normal supervisor Ned Colletti and supervisor Grady Little and added free brokers akin to Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra, Kenny Lofton, and Invoice Mueller. After a 12-14 begin in 2006, they known as up 24-year-old left fielder Andre Ethier — whom that they had acquired from the A’s over the winter — from Triple-A Las Vegas, and some days later, they introduced up 23-year-old catcher Russell Martin as properly. The group gained 16 of 20 video games as soon as the latter debuted, climbing from final within the NL West to second. Kemp, who was off to a powerful begin at Double-A Jacksonville, joined the suddenly-hot squad, debuting within the majors on Might 28 towards the Nationals; he went 1-for-4 with an eighth-inning single off reliever Jon Rauch, then the subsequent day went 2-for-3 with a stroll, three runs scored and two RBIs towards the Braves. On June 1, he clubbed his first homer, a three-run shot off the Phillies’ Gavin Floyd, then added one in every of the subsequent two video games, and altogether homered seven instances in his first 15 video games whereas batting .378/.420/.867.

Inevitably, nonetheless, Kemp cooled off, and when he slugged .286 whereas placing out 30 instances in 83 plate appearances over a four-week stretch that prolonged simply previous the All-Star break, the Dodgers demoted him to Triple-A. He returned in September however began simply 5 of the ultimate 28 video games, ending at .253/.289/.448 (85 OPS+) with -0.2 WAR; he went homereless in his ultimate 116 plate appearances. Although the 88-74 Dodgers claimed the Wild Card spot, Kemp wasn’t included on the roster because the Mets swept them out of the Division Collection.

With Lofton departing in free company, the Dodgers had an opportunity to clear a path for Kemp in middle discipline, however as a substitute signed Juan Pierre to a five-year, $44 million deal. Kemp opened the season shoehorned right into a proper discipline job share with Ethier, however in his fifth recreation, he separated his proper shoulder by colliding with the Plexiglas overlaying the proper discipline scoreboard. The group optioned him to Las Vegas as soon as he was wholesome, and he didn’t return till early June. Although he didn’t shake freed from the job share, he hit a scorching .342/.373/.521 (127 OPS+) with 10 homers, 10 steals, and 1.6 WAR in 311 plate appearances. The Dodgers completed simply 82-80, nonetheless, and as their season slipped away, Jeff Kent criticized the group’s younger gamers as missing professionalism and being unable to manage their feelings. The dour second baseman didn’t identify names, however Kemp and first baseman James Loney publicly took umbrage, with Kemp responding, “Having enjoyable is a part of the sport. When you got here up right here and also you had been critical on a regular basis, that’s not enjoyable. Joking along with your boys, that’s enjoyable. It helps you loosen up. You don’t have to think about all of the pressures. You consider simply having enjoyable. However we’ve been critical once we get between the white traces.”

In the long run, the Dodgers fired Little and changed him with Joe Torre, who had simply been let go by the Yankees after successful six pennants and 4 championships in 12 seasons. Beneath Torre, Kemp put collectively a few superb seasons in 2008 (.290/.340/.459, 110 OPS+, 18 HR, 35 SB, 3.9 WAR) and ’09 (.297/.352/.490, 127 OPS+, 26 HR, 34 SB, 4.9 WAR) whereas serving to the Dodgers win division titles and advance so far as the NLCS; the Dodgers’ 2008 Division Collection victory over the Cubs was their first playoff sequence win in 20 years. Kemp went simply 7-for-28 with three doubles however just one RBI through the 2008 postseason, however he started the ’09 Division Collection towards the Cardinals by hitting a two-run first-inning homer off Chris Carpenter in a 5-3 win. He hit simply .206/.229/.382 that fall, nonetheless, along with his solely different RBIs coming within the Dodgers’ defeats in Video games 4 and 5 of the NLCS towards the Phillies. After the season, Kemp gained his first Gold Glove, albeit with -4 DRS in middle discipline, although his 14 assists led all Nationwide League outfielders.

Issues started to collapse for Kemp in 2010, after an offseason through which he signed a two-year, $10.95 million extension and began courting pop star Rihanna — a confluence of occasions that will result in hypothesis about misplaced priorities and a scarcity of focus, and that didn’t lack for battle or controversy. He began scorching, however Colletti publicly took concern with elements of his recreation in late April, telling radio station KABC, “The baserunning’s beneath common. The protection is beneath common. Why is it? As a result of he acquired a brand new deal? I can’t let you know.”

Kemp’s offense tailed off in June; after a stretch through which he struck out eight instances in 14 plate appearances over a three-game span, Torre benched him for 3 straight video games, brazenly citing Kemp’s offensive stoop. The Los Angeles Occasions’ Dylan Hernandez quickly reported that the benching stemmed from a confrontation between Kemp and bench coach Bob Schaefer over the middle fielder’s failure to again up second base on a throwing error by Martin; Kemp countered by complaining that he’d been advised to arrange too deep to again up the play. Torre solely returned Kemp to the lineup after the middle fielder approached him to clear the air.

Colletti and Schaefer each had factors, as Kemp’s protection in middle discipline in 2010 was off-the-charts dreadful, primarily on account of his lack of vary and struggles throwing out baserunners. He set a single-season, single-position report with -37 DRS, falling quick solely of Adam Dunn’s -43 DRS on the two outfield corners and first base from 2009. And whereas he hit a career-high 28 homers, his .249/.310/.450 (106 OPS+) line was unremarkable, and he set doubtful highs in strikeouts (170, a franchise report) and caught stealing (15). In all, his -1.1 WAR was the third-lowest of any NL participant with at the very least 300 plate appearances. The Dodgers completed 80-82, and Torre — who clearly had grown weary of the job of managing — stepped down at season’s finish.

“He was 25, a professional athlete in LA with cash in his pocket,” wrote Molly Knight for a 2012 characteristic in ESPN The Journal. “He hit golf equipment just like the Colony and Drai’s and occasions on the Playboy Mansion. He was photographed round city as arm sweet for Rihanna.” Extra:

[H]e was the image of the Dodgers’ malaise. Third base coach Larry Bowa stated, “I want I had Matt Kemp’s instruments as a result of I might be in Cooperstown.” Ned Colletti gave a radio interview through which he questioned Kemp’s effort. Quickly rumors swirled that Kemp might be traded.

Kemp felt misunderstood. But when something, Kemp had allowed himself to be misunderstood, his stoicism forcing everybody to fill within the gaps between the man they noticed sputtering on the sphere and partying within the limelight.

For his half, Kemp took the criticism in stride. “There’s extra there,” he stated in response to Bowa’s feedback. “I agree. It’s one thing I want to take a seat right here and take into consideration after which change.”

Kemp regrouped from that unhealthy yr by spending the winter coaching in Arizona, chopping junk meals from his weight loss plan and shedding 15 kilos; his relationship with Rihanna reportedly ended that winter as properly. Keen about taking part in for brand spanking new supervisor Don Mattingly, beforehand the hitting coach underneath Torre, mentored by 85-year-old Dodgers legend Don Newcombe, and extra centered at each flip, he posted the most effective seasons in Dodgers historical past, batting .324/.399/.586, whereas his 39 homers, 115 runs, 126 RBIs, 172 OPS+, and eight.0 WAR all led the NL; he fell one homer shy of changing into simply the fifth participant with a 40-40 season. He made his first All-Star group and gained his second Gold Glove (albeit with -7 DRS), however misplaced out to Ryan Braun for NL MVP honors — shortly earlier than Braun was suspended 50 video games for testing constructive for elevated ranges of testosterone. Braun efficiently appealed the suspension, smearing the pattern collector within the course of, however the 2013 Biogenesis Clinic bust earned him a suspension that caught, tarnishing his award and his profession.

The Dodgers rewarded Kemp’s sensible season by signing him to an eight-year, $160 million extension, on the time a report for an NL participant and tied for the seventh-largest ever — and a shock given the tight-fistedness of proprietor Frank McCourt. Sadly, accidents prevented Kemp from producing a follow-up that was wherever close to his 2011 degree. He was completely on hearth in early 2012, homering 9 instances through the Dodgers’ season-opening 12-3 run and hitting .359/.446/.726 via Might 13, when he strained his left hamstring whereas working out a groundball. His journey to what was then the disabled record ended a streak of 399 consecutive video games, the longest lively one within the majors. It was only a Grade 1 pressure, however when he returned to the lineup on Might 29, he didn’t even make it via two video games earlier than re-aggravating it whereas scoring from first base on an Ethier double; within the dugout, he broke a bat over his knee in frustration. He missed six weeks — together with the All-Star Sport, for which he’d been chosen — however hit properly upon lastly returning to the lineup.

Every thing modified when Kemp crashed into Coors’ Subject’s outfield wall whereas working full velocity in pursuit of a Josh Rutledge fly ball on August 28, pinning his left shoulder within the collision. He truly stayed within the recreation for 2 batters earlier than being pulled, and missed simply two video games earlier than returning to the lineup, however he slumped in September, ending at .303/.367/.538 (147 OPS+) with 23 homers however simply 9 steals and a pair of.8 WAR. His accidents in all probability value the Dodgers a playoff spot; the group completed 86-76, two video games behind the Cardinals, who claimed the NL’s second Wild Card berth within the first yr of the brand new format. On October 5, Kemp underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgical procedure, with Dr. Neal ElAttrache repairing tears in each his labrum and rotator cuff, harm extra intensive than initially anticipated.

Whereas Kemp opened 2013 within the Dodgers’ lineup, he homered simply twice and slugged .335 via late Might earlier than happening the DL with a proper hamstring pressure. He missed practically 4 weeks, and performed in simply 10 video games earlier than being sidelined once more, this time by irritation in his left acromioclavicular joint. He obtained a cortisone injection, sat for 15 days, and after going 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, and three RBIs in a recreation towards the Nationals on August 21, sprained his left ankle whereas making a clumsy slide into residence plate. He missed one other eight weeks, then performed 11 video games in September earlier than being shut down on account of continued swelling within the ankle. The Dodgers, who had thrived with rookie Yasiel Puig taking part in proper discipline whereas Ethier slid over to middle, left Kemp off their playoff roster; they had been ousted by the Cardinals in a six-game NLCS. Kemp’s ultimate numbers for 2013: 73 video games performed, six homers, 9 steals, a .270/.328/.395 (104 OPS+) line, and 0.7 WAR.

After the season, Kemp underwent a pair of surgical procedures to handle arthritic modifications in his left shoulder — bone-on-bone — and clear up his left ankle; that process reportedly “concerned eradicating a number of spurs and a unfastened physique, and doing a microfracture on the talus bone.” Regardless of lacking the primary 5 video games of the 2014 season as his ankle recovered, he performed 150 video games and hit a sturdy .287/.346/.506 (140 OPS+), however his -23 DRS throughout all three outfield positions restricted him to 1.2 WAR, and Mattingly’s juggling of his highly-paid outfielders created distractions within the clubhouse. The Dodgers gained the NL West with 94 victories, and whereas Kemp went 6-for-17 within the Division Collection towards the Cardinals, with a decisive eighth-inning solo homer off Pat Neshek in Sport 2, that proved to be the group’s solely win within the sequence.

Every week after the Dodgers had been eradicated from the 2014 postseason, the group employed Andrew Friedman as president of baseball operations and bumped Colletti right into a senior advisory function. Friedman quickly went about radically reshaping the Dodgers’ roster via a flurry of December trades that had so many transferring elements and issues that they took a number of days to finish. In a single, they despatched Kemp and catcher Tim Federowicz to the Padres — the primary important transfer of A.J. Preller’s tenure as normal supervisor — in change for catcher Yasmani Grandal and pitchers Zach Eflin and Joe Wieland; Eflin was flipped to the Phillies in a deal for Jimmy Rollins. As a part of the Kemp commerce, the Dodgers agreed to pay $32 million of the $107 million remaining on his contract, an quantity that required approval from the commissioner earlier than the deal might be accomplished; what’s extra, Kemp’s bodily confirmed that he had developed arthritis in each hips, although the slugger insisted that he felt advantageous.

The deal was a shock, however from the Dodgers’ standpoint, it was the proper transfer, as Kemp’s protection and the cumulative impact of his bodily points offset the worth of his bat — a actuality that the Padres would quickly confront. He hit 23 homers in 154 video games for San Diego in 2015, and on August 15 turned the primary participant in Padres historical past to hit for the cycle, however netted simply 0.6 WAR whereas placing up -14 DRS in proper discipline. He hit 35 homers and drove in 108 runs in 156 video games in 2016, together with 23 homers in 100 video games for the Padres, however on July 31, he was traded to the Braves together with $10.5 million in change for Héctor Olivera, who was underneath an 82-game suspension for violating the league’s home violence coverage and can be launched simply days later. The deal was all about swapping unhealthy contracts, as Olivera was nonetheless owed $28.5 million of the $62.5 million on the six-year deal the Dodgers signed him to in 2015 after he defected from Cuba.

With -16 DRS, Kemp totaled simply 0.3 WAR in 2016, however issues quickly went from unhealthy to worse. A recurrent proper hamstring pressure restricted him to 115 video games in 2017, and he hit simply .276/.318/.463 (101 OPS+) with 19 homers; with -16 DRS in left discipline, he set a brand new profession low with -1.3 WAR.

The path of unhealthy paper connected to Kemp got here full circle in December 2017, when he was traded again to the Dodgers together with $4.5 million for Charlie Culberson, Adrián González, Scott Kazmir, and Brandon McCarthy, a bunch collectively owed over $50 million for 2018; the transfer helped the Dodgers get underneath the aggressive stability tax threshold. The reigning NL champions already had a logjam within the outfield and had been anticipated to flip Kemp to an AL group that would park him at designated hitter, however Kemp reported to camp having misplaced a reported 40 kilos, performed properly throughout spring coaching, and cracked the lineup when Justin Turner’s damaged wrist opened up time for Enrique Hernández on the infield. Improbably, Kemp was voted into the NL All-Star group’s beginning lineup on the energy of a .310/.352/.522 efficiency with 15 homers; together with Bryce Harper and 34-year-old first-time All-Star Nick Markakis, he was a part of a trio so unlikely that I wrote about their separate paths to that time.

Inevitably, Kemp cooled off, shedding taking part in time within the crowded outfield through the second half and ending at .290/.338/.481 (121 OPS+) with -7 DRS and 1.2 WAR. Whereas the Dodgers returned to the World Collection, shedding in 5 video games to the Pink Sox, Kemp began simply 5 of their 16 postseason video games, and all 4 of his hits, together with a solo homer off Chris Sale within the second inning of the World Collection opener, occurred in defeats.

For the third straight December and the fourth in a six-year span, Kemp was traded once more as a part of a wage dump, this time together with $7 million, Puig, Kyle Farmer, and Alex Wooden in an change with the Reds for Homer Bailey, Jeter Downs, and Josiah Grey, none of whom ever performed a recreation for the Dodgers (although Downs was a part of the 2020 Mookie Betts commerce and Grey was despatched to Washington the next yr within the Max Scherzer/Trea Turner deal). Kemp performed in simply 20 video games for Cincinnati earlier than shedding one other battle with an outfield wall, this time breaking a rib in pursuit of a drive by Wil Myers on April 21 at Petco Park. When he got here off the injured record in early Might, the Reds launched him. The Mets signed him to a minor league deal, however after eight video games at Triple-A Syracuse, additional discomfort along with his ribs despatched him to the IL, and the Mets launched him on July 12.

The Marlins introduced the 35-year-old Kemp to spring coaching on a minor league deal in 2020, however he struggled earlier than the coronavirus pandemic shut every little thing down, and drew his launch simply earlier than camps reopened. When COVID hit the Rockies onerous in early July — and when Ian Desmond opted out of taking part in the season — they signed Kemp to a minor league deal. As soon as the shortened season started, he shared DH responsibility however hit simply .239/.326/.419 (89 OPS+) with six homers.

A free agent once more, Kemp hoped to proceed his profession, however MLB and the gamers union’s incapacity to agree on utilizing the common designated hitter for 2021 closed some doorways. He was one of many largest names among the many many unsigned gamers with main league expertise who joined Group USA for the Olympic qualifier, however went 0-for-4 in his solely look, missed the lower for the Olympic squad, and by no means performed one other aggressive recreation. After becoming a member of the Dodgers in an advisory capability in February 2024, he introduced his retirement by way of an Instagram submit on Might 1. On August 11, he signed a one-day contract with the group, which held a proper retirement ceremony at Dodger Stadium in his honor.

It’s tempting to marvel how good Kemp may have been if not for the slew of accidents, or at the very least a state of affairs the place he may have DHed often late in his profession. As a substitute of Cooperstown, he’s one for the Corridor of What Ifs, however at his greatest, he was one thing particular.