Dodgers’ Matt Kemp making good on his promise

It has been well-documented that Matt Kemp reported to camp this year a more focused player, how he spent his early mornings on the back fields and in the batting cages of the Dodgers’ spring training complex.

The results are plain to see: Kemp ranks among the league leaders in the triple crown categories and is someone opposing managers are starting to regard among the best players in baseball.

Davey Lopes has seen Kemp work and seen Kemp produce. And he has also experienced Kemp’s gifts from a unique — and painful — vantage point.

The Dodgers’ first base coach, Lopes was the first to extend a congratulatory hand to Kemp when he hit a walk-off home run against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 17.

Whap!

Four days later, Kemp hit another walk-off home run, this time against the Atlanta Braves. Again, he slapped Lopes’ hand as he rounded first base.

Whap!

“I’ll never stick my hand out for him again,” Lopes said. “I did it twice. No more. I’m going to pull it away from him.”

Lopes laughed, adding, “He’s a very strong man.”

Kemp has surprised Lopes in other ways too, even though the coach had been given an extensive scouting report on the center fielder from former pitcher Dave Stewart, his close friend and Kemp’s agent.

Lopes said Stewart treats Kemp as if he were his son, and that most fathers don’t reveal the negative aspects of their children.

“I wanted to make my own evaluation,” Lopes said. “I knew he was talented. I just didn’t know he was as talented as he’s showing right now.”

At this point in the season, Lopes considers Kemp to be the National League’s most valuable player.

“Without question,” Lopes said. “There will be guys that get more publicity — guys who play on winning teams — but the fact of the matter is, I don’t think anyone is doing any more for their team than he is right now.”

Kemp went into the Dodgers’ off day Thursday as the NL leader in home runs with 20. His .335 average ranked second. He was tied for second in runs batted in with 56 and was tied for fifth in steals with 16.

With the season approaching the halfway mark, Kemp has the opportunity to become the first player in franchise history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in a season.

Of course, he predicted as much last September. After a game against Colorado, he was asked how many home runs he would hit this year. “Forty,” he replied. And how many steals? Same answer.

Who knew he was serious?

“This is one of the best starts I’ve seen, period,” Cincinnati Reds Manager Dusty Baker said. “All aspects of the game. He could be fast approaching …”

Baker paused, searching for the right words, then continued, “… maybe the best player in the game.”

From the time Kemp was first called up to the majors in 2006, his talent was never in doubt.

But many observers wondered if someone who was primarily a basketball player through high school could ever gain a feel for baseball.

There were also questions about his commitment, especially last season, when he batted only .249 and struck out a franchise-record 170 times in the first year of a two-year, $10.95-million contract.

That’s where that 40-40 prediction came from. “I have to pay the fans back,” he said in September. “They’ve been mad at me all season. I have to do something special for them.”

Kemp said he is still driven by memories of last season.

“Last year was a bad year,” he said. “This year, I just wanted to have a bounce-back year. I didn’t want to feel like I did last year.”

General Manager Ned Colletti, who publicly feuded with Stewart last year as a result of criticizing Kemp in a radio interview, said he started to notice a change in the center fielder last August.

Kemp asked to speak to him. In a room near the batting cages at Dodger Stadium, Colletti and Kemp talked about how they felt and what their expectations were.

“It put us in a good spot with each other,” Colletti said.

The transformation has been noticeable from the opposing dugout.

“His body language is different,” Colorado Rockies Manager Jim Tracy said. “He resembles to me, this year, a quote-unquote ‘star player in this league.’ ”

Tracy said he instructs his young players to observe Kemp.

“Hey, you see how that guy’s going about his business?” Tracy said he tells them. “That’s the way you go. This is how you go about being a day-in, day-out major league player. This is how you go about playing with passion.”

Tracy said Kemp’s transformation is as much about skill as it is about will.

Tracy pointed to a specific at-bat in the Dodgers’ recent visit to Colorado. With the count full in the fifth inning, Kemp hit a low fastball down the right-field line for a triple.

“I guarantee you there were a number of times you could have thrown that pitch a year ago and he would have missed it,” Tracy said.

Tracy reached the same conclusion as Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly: The holes in Kemp’s swing are shrinking.

“When you’re off balance, there are certain areas you don’t cover well,” Mattingly said. “When the mechanics get better, when your balance gets better, you get to certain balls easier.”

Mattingly said Kemp also better understands which pitches he should leave alone. Kemp has walked once every 8.3 plate appearances this year, an improvement from once every 12.6 last year.

Although the Dodgers are eight games under .500, Lopes said fans who aren’t visiting Dodger Stadium this year are missing something special.

“I think fans in the city of L.A. have been rewarded with seeing one of the better complete players in the history of the Los Angeles Dodgers — maybe even as far back as Brooklyn,” Lopes said. “You’re getting to see a very special talent right now.”

dylan.hernandez@latimes.com