The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
kemp fights harmstring issue
Outfielder has history of missing games with issue.
Braves left fielder Matt Kemp so far hasn’t been able to pull off the difficult balancing act of letting his nagging hamstring injury heal while continuing to play.
Kemp was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game Saturday. He left Thursday’s game because of what the Braves said was tightness in his left hamstring.
“It’s not serious, it’s just something that’s irritating,” Kemp said Saturday. “I keep irritating it. Once you do your hamstring at some point, it can get irritated. I’m just trying to figure out a way to make it heal and be able to play at the same time.”
Kemp sat out a game June 16 because of soreness in the same hamstring. He pinch hit during a game June 17 and started the next five before the latest flare-up.
“That’s what hamstrings are,” Kemp said. “It don’t ever just go away. There’s always something there. I’ve just got to figure out a way to play. It’s tricky. Hamstrings are tricky.”
The Braves placed Kemp on the 10-day disabled list in April because of a right hamstring strain. He also had multiple DL stints during the 2012 and 2013 because of issues with both hamstrings.
Entering Saturday, Kemp was hitting .320 with a .362 on-base percentage and .549 slugging percentage over 61 games.
Left side of infield shines: It was like old times Friday for Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson and third baseman Johan Camargo.
The pair played infield for Double-A Mississippi last season and are doing it with the Braves now that Camargo is getting regular playing time. Each made superlative defensive plays to hold off Brewers rallies during the 5-4 Braves victory at SunTrust Park.
“Both those young guys on that side of the infield — all those plays are something else,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
The Brewers had trimmed a 5-1 deficit to 5-4 in the eighth inning and had runners on first and second base when Camargo blunted the rally with his glove.
Jesus Aguilar hit a sharp ground ball down the third base line that left his bat at 101.3 mph, according to Statcast data. Camargo backhanded the ball cleanly and threw to second baseman Brandon Phillips to start an inning-ending double play.
“It was a hard-hit ball,” Camargo said through an interpreter. “He squared it up pretty good. I was just trying to stay focused on the game the whole time. I feel very fortunate and blessed that I was able to make the play. I’m glad that I was able to have good vision during it.”
The Brewers threatened to tie the score again in the ninth inning when Eric Thames led off with a double against Braves righthander Arodys Vizcaino. Swanson erased him with an exceptional play on a fielder’s choice.
Thames broke for third base on Domingo Santana’s ground ball up the middle. Swanson fielded it on the bounce before immediately planting his feet, spinning and throwing to Camargo for the tag out on a close play.
“That play Dansby made, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anything like that,” Snitker said. “A play like that, the runner, that ball’s up the middle, you go to third base. To have the guts to make that play is the biggest thing to me. The conviction. There wasn’t any hesitation.”
Swanson said he was thinking about making the play when Santana went to the plate.
“It’s kind of crazy how you can process something before it happens and when it does happen, it’s just reaction,” Swanson said.
With the lead runner eliminated, Vizcaino got the next batter, Travis Shaw, to fly out. Manny Pina followed with a soft liner that Swanson snagged with a diving catch for the final out of the game.
Swanson and Camargo, both 23 years old, were with Double-A Mississippi together for 84 games last season before Swanson was promoted to the Braves.