With the Los Angeles Dodgers done playing baseball for the year, one of the team's superstars will go under the knife and look forward to next season.
Outfielder and 2011 MVP runner-up Matt Kemp will have shoulder surgery on Friday, allowing doctors to fix a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
"They'll cut it open and see what's going on inside of there," Kemp said to ESPNLosAngeles.com. "Hopefully, they just clean it up. If they need to do more, they'll do more, but I won't know anything until I wake up."
The injury first came up in August when Kemp smashed into the outfield wall while playing against Colorado Rockies. At the time, according to ESPN.com, Kemp was hitting .337 with a .584 slugging percentage. Following the injury he dropped to .218 with a .427 slugging percentage.
Kemp said that the surgery most likely will keep him from playing for the United States in the World Baseball Classic.
"I think we can throw that out the window," Kemp said.
The slugger should be ready for the beginning of the season, but it all depends on the recovery time. The only other time Kemp was put on the disabled list was in 2007, also for a shoulder injury.
"Of course I'm nervous," Kemp said to the LA Times. "I've really never had surgery before. It could be something you just clean up and it's as short as six weeks and you could be good, or if he actually has to repair it, it's going to take a little bit longer. It just depends on how bad it is."
According to the LA Times, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had a similar surgery in 2010.
"It wasn't that tough for me," Gonzalez said. "You just have to trust it, take it slow and not try to get back at a certain time. I didn't have a lot of power in April, but I got hits and everything. Once May rolled around, I felt pretty good."
Kemp had a solid season even though he missed 56 games due to the injury. He finished with a .303 batting average, 23 home runs, 69 RBIs, 22 doubles and 74 runs scored. His best month of the season was July, when he hit .355 with three home runs and 11 RBIs.
In 2011, Kemp nearly won the NL Triple Crown and was runner-up to Ryan Braun in the MVP voting. He finished with a .324 batting average and had the most home runs and RBIs in the National League, with 39 and 126, respectively.
Los Angeles had other injury news, finding out that reigning Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw will not need hip surgery.
The Dodgers made a late push this season by acquiring Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and Carl Crawford from the Boston Red Sox, but ended up finishing two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second NL wild-card spot.
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