The Dodgers lone run last night was scored by Matt Kemp, who drove himself in with his 17th home run of the season, one off his career high. Using Wins Above Replacement (WAR, per Fangraphs), Kemp is the eighth-most valuable player in baseball this season, at 4.7 WAR.
Kemp has managed to increase his walk rate in each of the last two years:
| Year | PA | BB | BB% |
| 2007 |
311 |
16 |
5.1% |
| 2008 | 657 | 46 | 7.0% |
| 2009 | 478 | 41 | 8.6% |
Kemp has drawn a walk in 8.6% of his plate appearances this year, which is just under the league average of 8.9%.
Among MLB centerfielders, Kemp ranks:
- 1st in batting average (minimum 300 PA, at .313)
- 1st in OF Assists (12)
- 1st in RBI (76)
- 2nd in wOBA (.381)
- 2nd in OPS (.872)
- 2nd in OPS+ (128)
- 2nd in Runs Created (82)
- 2nd in Hits (135)
- 3rd in SLG (.500)
- t-4th in HR (17)
- 5th in OBP (.372)
- t-5th in Runs Scored (67)
- t-6th in Stolen Bases (23)
The last Dodger centerfielder with at least 400 plare appearances to slug .500 or better was Duke Snider in 1957. Think about that!
There is plenty of time left in the season, but if you want to determine the Dodgers' MVP, look no further than Matt Kemp.