If Matt Kemp is just really, really good, isn’t that good enough?

I know what you want. Call it a gift. No tarot cards nor palm reading required.

You want Matt Kemp to be a superstar. To be the best player in the game. To be that five-tool all-star of 2011. Hey, Kemp wants it to.

“I think I still have it in me,” Kemp said.

Only Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly thinks it’s unreasonable to constantly measure a player against his greatest season.

“It’s just not fair to compare,” Mattingly said.

Yet there are times when it’s almost impossible not to compare Kemp to that player from three years ago who was the National League MVP runner-up.

Times like Sunday, when Kemp caught an Alfredo Marte fly in medium right and doubled up Miguel Montero at the plate with a bullet, one-hop throw in the second inning. Then powered a home run in the seventh. And then made a nice diving catch of a Cody Ross line drive in the eighth.

In his last 11 games, Kemp is batting .365 (15 for 41) with four home runs and nine RBI. This continues the improvement he’s shown in the second half of the season. His on-base and slugging percentages before the All-Star game was .760; it’s .952 since.

Which, despite the slow start coming off ankle surgery, leaves him at .282 with 19 home runs, 68 RBI, 32 doubles and an .831 OPS. And Mattingly argues everyone should be happy with that and not be comparing Kemp’s numbers to 2011.

“You’re going back three years and to the best year of his career. Before ankle surgery and shoulder surgery,” Mattingly said. “That’s where it’s just not fair to compare.

“If you look at his whole career – let’s take that year out – this is getting more back to what we’ve seen all the time. Every other year he was kind of hitting .290, 90-95 RBIs, 20-something homers.

“That year it went over the top – high homers, high average, high stolen bases. So if we take that year out, this is getting closer to what he normally does.”

Kemp, however, thinks he is on the upswing, with room for improvement.

“I’m not running as good as I want to, but my swing is coming back and the more at-bats I get, the better I think I’ll get,” he said.

“I think I still have it in me. It’s all just getting healthy, getting my legs back under me, and grinding it out every day.”

Kemp had 40 stolen bases in 2011. He’s had hamstring issues and the ankle surgery since. This season he has stolen eight bases in 13 attempts.

But Kemp won’t turn 30 until Sept. 23, so he should be in the prime of his career. He could still be recovering from those surgeries, still moving upward. He’s signed to a $160-million contract. For now, though, Mattingly thinks the current Kemp incarnation is worthy of praise.

“Matt is swinging the bat good,” Mattingly said. “He’s been driving the ball, driving in runs. He looks comfortable in right field. As much as anything, he’s doing the job now.

“So trying to go back three years with guys is not fair. Three years of age and injuries is a lot to overcome. Probably this year it’s been getting better. Hopefully these are glimpses of things to come.”

Twitter: @stevedilbeck