“He can run and he throws good, and he has power and he's hit for average. And he steals bags, too. You see all these pieces. But that 'potential' word is dangerous, because with guys like this, people will say whatever they do isn't good enough.”
—Dodgers manager Don Mattingly

"He's kind of putting it all together.”
—Mattingly

"He is scary. He's fun to watch.”
—Mattingly

“When Matty gets uncomfortable around people, he can be brash and loud. But to me, he's lovable Matt. My family loves him. I know he's big and strong and he can look tough and unapproachable sometimes. But he has a heart of gold. He really and truly does.”
—Dodgers executive Logan White

“You’re going to get beat up at some time in your career. He got beat up last year. He didn’t like it, getting ripped. In fairness, it might have done some good.”
—Veteran big league coach Larry Bowa

"He's wound pretty tight. You have people telling him a lot of different things that he gets annoyed by. It's not a matter of him being disrespectful. But if he does something wrong and you try to tell him, he might just go, ‘I know.’.”
—Former Dodgers manager Joe Torre

"He's got great instincts. With his quickness he makes up for something if maybe that first step is wrong. I think he'll only get better at it, just reading the ball off the bat. He's just a good instinctive player.”
—Torre

"He’s locked in to not only saying he wants to be great, but doing everything, big and small, to get to that point.”
—Dodgers GM Nick Colletti

“He's not satisfied being in the big leagues. This kid wants to be a star.”
—Former Dodgers executive Terry Collins

“You should never hear a general manager or staff publicly criticize a player. Whether he was playing well or not, it should not have happened.”
—Agent and former All-Star Dave Stewart

"He's a guy with speed, power, a guy that can beat you with a base hit or a long ball. He's what you call a complete player ... He's so dangerous.”
—Giants manager Bruce Bochy

“In all likelihood, Matt Kemp is a far better player than his 2011 stats, as good as they are, make him out to bed.”
—Sportswriter Asher Chancey

“Every time he hits a home run I scream. I can't even explain the feeling when I watch him. You can tell he loves it. And he's having fun. All I want for him is to enjoy what he's doing.”
—Matt’s mom Judy Henderson

“This is awesome, just awesome, man. I mean, he's a big-league player now. I have no words right now, just being here at the game watching my son out there right now on the field of dreams.”
—Matt’s dad Carl Kemp

“He has surpassed everything everybody thought he would have done by now.”
—Carl Kemp

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