When Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman traded Matt Kemp to the San Diego Padres in December 2014, no one could have predicted the 2011 National League MVP runner-up would eventually find his way back to the organization that drafted him.
But that changed late last year when the Dodgers and Atlanta Braves orchestrated a salary dump of a trade that benefitted both clubs. Yet, Kemp’s tenure in Los Angeles was expected to be short lived. Friedman let it be known the Dodgers would immediately shop the 33-year-old.
When a trade never manifested itself, Kemp reported to Camelback Ranch for the start of Spring Training. He was still surrounded by uncertainty but went into camp with a refreshed outlook and in tremendous shape.
On Thursday, Kemp started in left field and was in the Dodgers lineup for the first time since Game 4 of the 2014 National League Division Series. It was his first Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium since 2013.
Kemp was greeted with a thunderous applause during pregame introductions, which he said was part of a memorable day and familiar experience, per Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider:
“It was exciting,” Kemp said of being announced to the sellout crowd at Dodger Stadium. “I think every home game in Dodger blue has been special, but this one was up there with the best of them. Just exciting to be back out there with the fans — those familiar faces. To go back out there and put that jersey on.
“I definitely don’t feel like a rookie,” Kemp laughed. “I feel like a kid out there, but not a rookie. I feel like an old kid.”
Unfortunately for Kemp and the Dodgers, his return was spoiled in a 1-0 loss to the San Francisco Giants. Joe Panik’s home run off Clayton Kershaw with two outs in the fifth inning proving enough to snap the Dodgers’ seven-game winning streak on Opening Day.
As a team Los Angeles mustered all of six hits. One was courtesy of Kemp, who led off the bottom of the ninth with a single.
