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Matt Kemp
At 32, Kemp is having his best season since 2011, when he was 26 and playing for the Dodgers. He's hitting .309 with 12 home runs and 37 RBI—numbers that have him in the running for a starting spot in the All-Star Game. He's reminding baseball fans of the player who nearly won the National League triple crown in '11, when he led the league with 39 home runs and 126 RBI, finished third with a .324 average and also stole 40 bases.
Back then, it seemed like he would be a Dodger and a superstar for life.
But life beyond baseball was swirling around him.
There was the tabloid fodder—like dating Rihanna in 2010. There was the expectations-setting eight-year, $160 million contract extension. There were the injuries. And then there was the trade to San Diego. The weight gain. Then a second trade, this time to the Braves, and chatter about his San Diego mansion not selling at auction. He admitted in a post on the Players' Tribune that he had "let a big contract, the Hollywood lifestyle, injuries and bad relationships" get to him, which earned him a "reputation for being selfish, lazy and a bad teammate."
He was trending dangerously toward another label: bust.
But not so fast. Kemp's story wasn't finished. Not yet.
His resurgence in Atlanta—and his jaw-dropping transformation in the offseason—is eliminating any inkling of those perceptions. He's hitting. He's healthy. By all appearances, he's having fun.
And the Braves organization loves him. - BleacherReport.com Jun 2018
Had occasion to look at Matt Kemp and saw he was from the previous generation of facegens (heavy on smiles).
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