May 31st, 2012 at 1:20 am 
by Ron Cervenka In only his second game back from the disabled list, Dodger center fielder re-injured his left hamstring while running from first to home on an Andre Ethier double. An extremely disappointed Kemp told members of the media that he felt the hamstring go after rounding second base but managed to scored when Brewers center field Carlos Gomez bobbled the ball. “It’s worse this time,” Kemp told reporters. “I’ll probably have to go on the DL but we’ll know more tomorrow after an MRI. It’s definitely nobody’s fault. It’s just what happens in sports… happens when you’re fast,” Kemp added while trying to make light of the situation.
Matt Kemp scores from first base on a double by Andre Ethier but it was a very costly run, as Kemp re-injured his left hamstring in the process. All indications are that Kemp will be lost for 4 to 6 weeks.
While Dodger officials would not come right out and say that Kemp is definitely headed for the DL, there is absolutely zero doubt in my mind that this will happen and will happen on Thursday. Just prior to being allowed into the clubhouse for post-game interviews with Kemp and Dodger manager Don Mattingly, Dodger general manager Ned Colletti, assistant GM De Jon Watson, and new Dodger president and CEO Stan Kasten entered and met with Mattingly. Although nothing was mentioned regarding this unusual meeting, one can certainly speculate that a decision was being made on who will be called up to replace Kemp on the 25-man roster.
Here again, although nothing was said in this regard, it is my opinion that it will be outfielder/2B Alex Castellanos who will get the call up. Since returning from a month-long stint on the DL himself (also for a hamstring injury), Castellanos is absolutely tearing it up at Triple-A Albuquerque. In 22 games with the Isotopes this season, Castellanos is hitting .379 (33 for 87) with 5 home runs and 14 RBIs. The Dodgers acquired Castellanos from the St. Louis Cardinals in the Rafael Furcal trade at last year’s trading deadline. The 25-year-old Castellanos was in Double-A at the time and has moved up quickly since joining the Dodger organization.
With a lengthy road trip beginning on June 1 with stops in Colorado, Philadelphia, and Seattle, the Dodgers will be facing their biggest hurdle of the season while trying to hold on to their 5 1/2 game lead in the NL West, and will now have to do so without the of their best player. This is clearly a major turning point in the season for the team.
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Here’s part of the transcript from Kemp’s interview after the game, taken from an LA Times video:
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“It was pretty much close to third base and I just felt it. And um, you know.”
Do you anticipate this being a DL situation?
“Uh, yeah, I would think so. I mean, It feels worse than the first time, so. We’ll see tomorrow. Hopefully the MRI comes back good. You know? We’ll go from there. But, it’s definitely nobody’s fault. It’s just what happens in sports… happens when you’re fast.” (Kemp laughing with reporters.)
Before today, did it feel like it could come back?
“No. Like I said, Sue had me going through all the tests, we were running bases. You know, the first test for me was yesterday. I kinda hit a little nubber back to the pitcher and I sprinted and I didn’t feel it, and I was lke “yeah, alright. My leg feels good.” And then I hit a double and my legs felt good, and you today, I don’t know, I guess it was just something different. I guess it was still in there, so.”
Did you know right away that you’d done it and were coming out of the game?
“Oh yeah, I did. I was going to try to hide it. But there was really no hiding that from Donnie B. He kinda called me over and asked me if felt something, I was like, “yeah”. He was like, “alright, you’re done”. I was like, “alright, I got you”.”
So, your angry display there was a little bit more about frutstration with the injury?
“It’s not to him. It’s not his fault that my leg is feeling the way it’s feeling. Anytime I’m frustrated it’s because I’m not playing in the game, It’s not ’cause of me being mad at Donnie B. You know, he has a job to do and that’s to protect his players, and you know, he can’t throw me out there when I’m hurt. So, that’s just out of frustration of being hurt. I want to be out there with my team.”
Are you scared that this might affect you mentally for the future?
“I don’t think so. As long as we just, you know, take it easy and make sure it’s healed the right way. You know, I’ve never really had hamstring problems. This is my first time ever really having hamstring problems. So, I don’t know how to really treat them, I know they’re tricky and that they can always come back. So you know, I have to definitely take it slow and make that it’s healed.”
I was standing right next to the Times reporter during the interview and recorded it in its entirety. I also recorded Mattingly’s post-game interview. There was no need for me to transcribe either word for word, as the news was simple (and depressing) – Matt is going to be out for a long time (my guess is 4 to 6 weeks).
The one positive thing about this disaster is that having been a sprinter in high school and having been involved in various running sports all of my life (and I also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express), when someone seriously tears a hamstring, they go down – period; they cannot even walk or even stand. Not only did Matt not go down, he was able to continue running and rather fast. Now this certainly doesn’t mean that he might not have torn his hamstring to some degree, but I have witnessed far worse.