The Dodgers have a new slugger. His name is Matthew Ryan Kemp and he has the potential to become an MVP-caliber hitter. Okay, that’s a bit of an overkill statement for a guy who has been in the big leagues for nine seasons and who was the NL MVP runner-up in 2011, but the truth of the matter is… well, there is actually some truth to it.

If you have been watching Kemp’s post All-Star break at bats closely you have noticed that he is standing more upright than in the past. This isn’t a mistake or a fluke, it is the result of Kemp (finally) seeking the help of Dodgers hitting coaches Mark McGwire and John Valentin.

During a recent (and excellent) interview with Orange County Register’s Pedro Moura, Dodgers assistant hitting coach John Valentin said that Kemp came to him and hitting coach McGwire asking how he could improve his hitting.

“The struggles, we brought it up to him a long time ago,” Valentin told Moura. “But him being such an accomplished player, he had to want to do it.”

You don’t have to be a baseball expert or a hitting coach to understand what Valentin was trying to politely say right there. Kemp simply had to set his ego aside and realize that maybe he didn’t know everything about hitting and that perhaps he could learn something from a couple of guys who actually know what they’re talking about.

“He actually has straightened his stance,” said Valentin. “It used to be locked. What that created was a difficulty to have the freedom to stay through the baseball. This offers a clear path to hit balls in and away.”

Kemp’s new stance is more upright than it used to be and the results have been very positive thus far.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But even if fans haven’t notice the subtle change in Kemp’s batting stance, they most certainly have noticed the results. Three of the five home runs that Kemp has hit since the All-Star break have landed in nearly the exact same location – and we’re talking withing 10 feet of one another.

Matt Kemp’s last five home runs.
(Image courtesy of ESPN Home Run Tracker)

Those who have followed Kemp closely throughout his nine-year MLB career are well aware that to this point his power has been almost exclusively to right/center and dead center field. And while he still has tremendous power to these areas, it appears that he now has increased power to left/center field. Obviously, this is entirely incumbent on where he is pitched and, as we all know, Kemp has a long history of chasing pitches low and away (hence those home runs to right and right/center), but as he gets better at laying off of those pitches (and he has done so significantly), he will begin seeing more pitches over the plate and middle in, which equates to increased power to left/center and left field.

Kemp’s new batting stance has given him improved power to left/center field – where three of his last five home runs have landed. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

With the continuing and troublesome offensive slumps of Carl Crawford (.236) and Andre Ethier (.242), it is becoming very apparent that the key to the success of the 2014 Dodgers lies squarely on the shoulders of Matt Kemp (.283) and Yasiel Puig (.319). With that being said, a now completely healthy Matt Kemp couldn’t have picked a better time to rediscover himself and could hold the keys to the Dodgers making it to and even winning the 2014 World Series.

Welcome back, Matt!

…and thank you John Valentin!