Matt Kemp – the best power-hitting outfielder in the NL
By Josh Brown
Baseball writers and many Braves fans seem to forget that Matt Kemp hit more home runs than any other outfielder in the National League last year. So let me remind them. Matt Kemp hit more home runs than any other outfielder in the National League last year.
Matt Kemp is the best power-hitting outfielder in the National League, yet as a still-new member of the Atlanta Braves all we hear about is how lousy Matt Kemp is as a defender.
Matt Kemp is currently not the best defending left fielder. Nor is he the worst. But it’s left field, not center field and teams have been putting decrepit players who can barely field in the corners since the beginning of time.
And if Matt Kemp is a terrible fielder, the only person who forgot to read the memo is Matt Kemp.
Who would you rather have in the NL East other than Matt Kemp in left field? I’ll give you Christian Yelich (who I deem as perhaps the most underrated player in baseball), but he’s shifting over to center field. You’d rather have Howie Kendrick? Michael Conforto? Jayson Werth? Please stop. You’re embarrassing yourself.
Matt Kemp is a power-hitting left fielder. Nothing more. Nothing less. And I am great with that.
Since joining the Atlanta Braves last season, he hit .280 with 12 homers and as we saw, the offense of the entire team had a swift turnaround once the team insert him and Dansby Swanson. And much to the chagrin of Brian Kenny, some of that might have been attributed to team chemistry.
Matt Kemp hit more home runs than any other outfielder in the NL at a position that is traditionally slated for power-hitting baseball players and literally nobody talked about it. Why? Because he plays for the Atlanta Braves and people are overly obsessed with defense.
If Matt Kemp showed up this year the exact same size and shape as he was last year, I’d still take him over most NL left fielders. But he’s lost weight and is reported to be the first to arrive and the last to leave everyday during Spring Training.
Call me crazy (and you saber nerds love to do that), but I think Matt Kemp has as good of a shot as anyone to win his third Gold Glove this year. And I’ll say it to your face.
Besides, when you’re the left fielder next to the best center fielder in baseball, the pressure’s off.
But seriously – Look for Matt Kemp to improve his defense in 2017 and look for him to hit his usual 30-something home runs and then look for me to tweet obnoxious “I told you so” tweets from the top of a mountain somewhere.