Kemp Rehab Watch (lol)

simple

shoulder surgery

that's all.

He was a good investment, he's still a MLB hitter, yada yada
All scouting confirmed previous performance levels... but...

He's recovering very slowly from shoulder surgery... very slowly and evidently shoulder surgery for a baseball hitter is a very big deal.

Let him get plenty of AB's in Albuquerque and maybe he'll come around

maybe

its a risky business this club ownership

 

You got it, I fell out when I saw he was just cleared to start lifting weights again a few months ago. The guy was a work out freak who pumped and pumped. Hmmm injured shoulder not allowed to lift which if he didn't lose weight would have meant fat and not muscle. End result loss of power etc. What did management expect? I wonder if Hanley had not gotten hurt in the Spring games if Kemp would have still been hitting third or eased back in depending on how he hit. Some of the issues were obvious in Spring Training and not unexpected. I guess with Hanley hurt and how Crawford would perform or stay healthy there was some sort of feeling that Kemp was needed there. Hopefully he doesn't come back to the 3 spot but 5 or six behind Hanley. Crawford will not be back so the outfield will be Puig, Dre and Kemp if he is ready. That along with AGon and Hanley gives time and flexibility and no one person absent media hype and the need to sell headlines needs to be the focus. However they will be the media as they are the modern day media.

 

Common sense? WTF?!?!?!

 

The good thing is that the 2-4 slots with Puig, AGon and Hanley is starting to pop. That makes it more logical to slide Kemp in the 5 or 6 spot depending on how Dre is doing and leftie/rightie matchups

 

Yeah
But let's be cautious. If Puig continues to defiantly swing at puss sliders we're gonna have a lot of could've been moments.

 

Yeah I know and that puts more pressure on Kemp coming back. Puig wants to stand way off the plate

 

I understand that Kemp had a shoulder surgery, he couldn't work out, etc... It's just, the pitches he's swinging at. Just awful. It's pitches that he wouldn't swing at if 100% healthy, which is why I think it's more of a mental rather than physical problem with Kemp. He's like the Dodgers version of Pau Gasol... soft.

 

That's Puig's first adjustment, and it was an obvious one... he will need to learn to recognize the slider and let it go... they were jamming him inside with fastballs... I dont see it as a big problem moving forward...

 

Kemp isn't soft

 

We should be so lucky Kemp turns out to be as good as Pau Gasol, that would mean he would be a borderline HOFer.

 

I'll take him being as good in baseball as Pau Gasol is in basketball.

 

Have fun with JD Drew.

 

JD Drew was soft and often injured.

 

So answer this then: Is there any chance Kemp gets back to who he was or is that surgery just a complete death sentence?

 

1-2.. Double, walk so far, 2RS

 

Well, I have a theory because I've not only been around baseball for almost 40 years, I also had that surgery.

Here's how I see it. His swing path and his bat speed has worsened. He's lost some strength and flexability so that's to be expected. That's 4 issues there.

The pitch selection process is harder to do when you have to rush/cheat/start earlier in your swing. You have a milisecond less time to recognize the pitch. The more Matt swung at perfectly hittable pitches and missed them(which he has been doing all season, I mean FBs right down the cock!), the more he probably tried to get the swing going earlier. That would make him commit to more and more bad pitches.

Batspeed gives you time to start the swing later and determine what is good or bad to swing at. Pitch selection problems got to be an issue and he was fucked 5 ways. Hard enough to correct 1 problem, let alone fix 5. This might take a longtime.

This also might explain that when he actually made contact this season, he was out infront pulling more than ever...he is starting his swing to early. He used to be able to wait, recognize and rip shit the otherway like Piazza used to and now Puig. Now he's just flailing early to catch up to something.

 

100% he will be back.