Inside Matt Kemp's horrid start

10:52 AM ET 03.10 | Nervous, are you? Matt Kemp can't get a hit. Can't seem to find his spring groove. Seems slightly hesitant at the plate. Relax, blue lover, this is not a major concern. Not on March 9. Yeah, the numbers are not exciting. Kemp is 0 for 11 this spring with five strikeouts. Add his game against Mexico and his one at-bat in Friday's rainout, and he's a combined 0 for 15. Kemp, of course, had off-season surgery on his left shoulder. The Dodgers hoped it would be just a minor cleanup, but he needed his labrum reattached. So after he went hitless in three at-bats on Saturday in the Dodgers' 3-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners with two more strikeouts, somewhere the concern level had to be rising a bit. But Kemp sent a screeching line drive to center for an out and does not appear to be in any pain when he swings hard. That's the most important part. Manager Don Mattingly said Kemp has to trust his rehab, forget about the shoulder and just let it go. "He has to let it loose," Mattingly said. Kemp admitted to reporters that he was holding back a tad and had to put the shoulder out of mind. "I need to," he said. "I need to swing like I swing."

Los Angeles Times