Matt Kemp Injury: Dodgers Outfielder To Miss Playoffs

Matt Kemp is done for the season.

The Los Angeles Dodgers star center fielder’s injured ankle will rule out any post-season play. LA faces off against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday in the first game of the National League division series.

According to AP, “Dr. Neal ElAttrache says an MRI taken during [today’s] game showed microscopic evidence of swelling in one of the major weight-bearing bones in Kemp’s sprained ankle.”

Matt Kemp still thinks the Dodgers will be very competitive in the playoffs. “To sum it up, if I keep playing on it, my ankle could break,” Kemp said. “It’s disappointing, but they have been OK without me. I like our chances,” ESPN reports him saying.

Kemp left the Dodgers clubhouse on crutches today after the team’s final regular season game, a 2-1 home loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Kemp also said that “It’s like a bad nightmare, injury after injury after injury after injury. Honestly, I don’t know what to say any more except that the season’s over with for me and I have to be that cheerleader or that leader on the bench to help those guys through those tough games they’re going to play.”

Matt Kemp was on the disabled list for about two months this summer. He recorded a.314 batting average since coming off the DL in mid September. Kemp is a lifetime.293 hitter in eight years in the big leagues. He batted.270 this season, however, in just 73 games with six home runs. The two-time All Star was the runner-up to Ryan Braun for the 2011 National League MVP.

Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier also is struggling with an ankle injury, and his status for the first round is in doubt.

Commenting on these injuries, manager Don Mattingly said “If we don’t have Matt and we don’t have Andre, you’re not as good as you can be. We’re still good enough to win.”

Kemp will have surgery on his left shoulder in the off season. The ankle is not expected to require surgery.

[image credit: Keith Allison]