Man, the Kempless Dodgers are not fun to watch. Even the most harmless of AL West teams (THE AL WEST) are giving the Dodgers the business. Ok, I get it, the Dodgers have the best record in the National League (the Texas took the distinction of “best record in the major leagues” with this loss). But at some point, we, the fans, need a reality check. When we were going down the line thinking, “How will this team perform? What are our expectations?” They were emphatically NOT “The 2012 Los Angeles Dodgers will have the best record in the National League for the first half of the season.” No, they were “I bet you this team goes about .500 again, because well, what’s improved?”

So, I don’t know. On one hand, losses like this are frustrating. On the other, the Dodgers are still doing really, very well without their best player and arguably the best player in the major leagues. Tony Gwynn Jr. (and Elian Herrera) have done a great job filling Kemp’s shoes in center field, though I am getting the distinct impression that people think TGJr should be doing more, somehow. Tonight, he went to field a hard hit ball and it bounced off his glove. The gnashing of teeth covered up the fact that both he and LF Tony Abreu got to the ball at the same time. Tony Abreu isn’t very fast. If Tony Gwynn Jr. is getting to a ball that is in left field, there are bigger problems.

So maybe Matt Kemp’s hamstring can do me a solid and get well soon. Please?