Banged-up Los Angeles Dodgers star Matt Kemp will be out of the lineup weekend and miss the rest of L.A.’s series against its NL West rival San Francisco Giants.
UPDATE: Saturday, September 8 at 8:39 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford
Major League Baseball’s official Twitter feed gave an update on the Dodgers’ star on Saturday:
INJURY UPDATE: @dodgers OF @therealmattkemp out until at least Tuesday with frayed labrum and inflammation in bruised left shoulder.
— MLB (@MLB) September 9, 2012
This confirms that Kemp will miss the entire weekend. Following their current series against the Giants, they play NL West rival Arizona in a two-game series starting Monday. After that, they will host the St. Louis Cardinals.
Losing a player like Kemp hurts anytime, but losing him in the heart of a playoff race could cause a crucial slip-up.
These next two series could be critical for the Dodgers’ postseason hopes.
—End of Update—
According to the Los Angeles Times‘ Dylan Hernandez via Twitter on Saturday, Kemp is undergoing an MRI on his injured shoulder:
Matt Kemp will miss the remainder of the #SFGiants series. Undergoing contrast MRI on shoulder today.
— Dylan Hernandez (@dylanohernandez) September 8, 2012
The Dodgers will certainly miss Kemp in the lineup this weekend at San Francisco.
L.A. is currently 5.5 games back of the NL West-leading Giants and 1.5 games out of the NL Wild Card. Kemp’s superb batting could have given the Dodgers a much-needed boost this weekend.
The 27-year-old outfielder is batting .315 this season in 85 games played. Kemp has homered 18 times and added 56 RBI.
Kemp’s injury-plagued season caught many in L.A. by surprise, considering that he had missed only 11 games total over the past four seasons with the Dodgers.
L.A. has lost three games in a row after falling to San Francisco 5-2 on Friday night in the series opener. The Dodgers have lost eight of their last 12 overall.
If Kemp winds up missing a significant amount of time this fall, the Dodgers will have a slim chance of earning a NL Wild Card berth this October.
L.A. needs his production at the plate more than anything else. If Kemp can return to the lineup healthy and soon, he will have three more games to perform against the Giants.
L.A. and San Francisco end the regular season with a three-game series on the first three days of October.
Stay tuned for more information on Kemp’s status and his shoulder injury.
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