Matt Kemp: Willie Mays Catch and Grand Slam vs Brewers AKA Matt Kemp Should Be An All-Star (Video)

Yesterday against the Brewers, Matt Kemp made two plays that pretty much sum up why he should have been an All-Star in the NL and might be one of the most underrated and under appreciated players in all of baseball. It's seriously a crime that he's not on the All-Star team and also that Joe Torre continues to bat him 8th.

Defense:

Not only did Matt Kemp make a great Willie Mays catch last night against the Brewers, but check out his defensive ratings, via Fan Graphs:

Arm - Outfield Arm Runs Above Average: 2.7
RngR - Range Runs Above Average: 7.1
ErrR - Error Runs Above Average: 0.3
UZR - Ultimate Zone Rating in Runs Above Average: 10.1



Basically Matt Kemp is worth 10.1 runs above the average CF in all of baseball, which makes him the second best defensive CF in the game behind Franklin Gutierrez, who has some ridiculous range in CF. The fact that CF is one of the most important defensive positions in the game means that Kemp is one of the most valuable defensive players in all of baseball. However, people seem to be overlooking Kemp's excellent defense, but maybe after last night's great catch by Kemp things will start to turn in his favor.

Offense:

Offensively, Kemp is strong and he is currently 18th in all of baseball in runs created, which ranks him ahead of players like Miguel Cabrera, Ichiro, Torii Hunter, Kevin Youkilis, Johnny Damon, Evan Longoria, Ryan Howard, Dustin Pedroia, etc. He also ranks 20th in all of baseball in runs created above average.

His raw numbers are .324 AVG/11 HR/50 RBI/19 SB/.389 OBP/.503 SLG/.892 OPS/131 OPS+



If you combine the Gold Glove caliber defense with the solid offense you see that Matt Kemp is the 5th most valuable player in baseball this season. Yet there were 3 times Kemp could have been named to the All-Star team and coaches and fans passed over him all three times. For some reason Charlie Manuel brought Orlando Hudson from the Dodgers at 2B instead of going with another outfielder in Kemp. The fans choose Shane Victorino over Kemp and while I have no problem with Victorino being an All-Star, he clearly shouldn't be one over Kemp, since Kemp is far superior defensively and slightly better offensively. Then as a replacement for Carlos Beltran, Jayson Werth was chosen ahead of Kemp, who is having a fine season, but Kemp would have been the perfect CF replacement for Beltran. It's really a shame he's not on the team and it seems like coaches and fans alike are underrating him severely.

More: MLB