Did Rihanna really make Matt Kemp Struggle?

Matt Kemp had a breakout season in 2009, but struggled in 2010. The question is, can we really blame this on his relationship with Rihanna during the 2010 season? At first glance, you would say Yes but its probably Overrated. If you look at his Raw totals such as Doubles(2B), HRs, RBI, and Runs scores you will see some actually went up while others are close enough that you can attribute it to the rest of the team's performance as to why they went down.

	2B	% Change	HR	% Change	RBI	% Change	Runs	% Change
2008	38		18		76		93
2009	25	-34.21%	26	44.44%	101	32.89%	97	4.30%
2010	25	0.00%	28	7.69%	89	-11.88%	82	-15.46%

As you can see, his doubles stayed the same and his homers actually went up. The Runs and RBI going down can dependent upon the batters in front of and behind him. However, the next set of stats will show that he might have stayed out late more than usual during this relationship.

	SB	CS	SB%		SO	% Change	AB/SO
2008	35	11	76.1%		153		3.96
2009	34	8	81.0%		139	-9.15%	4.36
2010	19	15	55.9%		170	22.30%	3.54

He was a very good base stealer in 2008 and 2009 with over 30 steals in each season. Not only did this total went down but his success rate dropped like a roller coaster. Also, his strikeout rate was the worst since he's become an everyday player. That discipline starts to lack once you're too fatigue or distracted from things off the field right? Finally, there are his overall percentages.

	BA	% Change	OBP	% Change	SLG	% Change
2008	0.290		0.340		0.459
2009	0.297	2.41%	0.352	3.53%	0.490	6.75%
2010	0.249	-16.16%	0.310	-11.93%	0.450	-8.16%

His batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage all suffered in 2010 compared to 2008 and 2009. The slightest decline was in his slugging but as noted before his Homeruns and Doubles actually stayed on par.

So in conclusion, his relationship with Rihanna made him go "Hollywood" in Hollywood. His talent still shows but the finer points of his game suffered. It will be interesting to see whether his numbers go back to 2008,2009 form in 2011 as he is entering his prime(Fantasy owners be noted).