Matt Kemp to have shoulder surgery Friday

By Steve Dilbeck

Oct. 3, 2012 12 AM PT

Seems Matt Kemp was playing with just a tad more pain in that left shoulder than he was willing to let on.

Kemp said after Wednesday’s regular-season finale that he will have exploratory surgery Friday on the shoulder labrum he torn running into the Coors Field wall on Aug. 28.

“They’re going to see what’s going on inside of there, and hopefully just clean it up,” Kemp said of the arthroscopic procedure. “If they need to do more, they’ll do more. But I won’t know anything until I wake up.”

If the shoulder only needs to be cleaned up, trainer Sue Falsone said before the game that Kemp would be out about six weeks. If Dr. Neal ElAttrache needs to surgically repair the shoulder, Kemp could be out for four months, but still ready for spring training.

Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez had his shoulder repaired in October 2010.

“It wasn’t that tough for me,” Gonzalez said. “You just have to trust it, take it slow and not try to get back at a certain time.

Gonzalez said he did not rush his return. He played in 11 spring training games in 2011.

“I didn’t have a lot of power in April, but I got hits and everything,” he said. “Once May rolled around, I felt pretty good.”

Kemp played in 28 games after running into the wall in Denver, hitting .214 with six home runs and 16 RBIs.

For the 28-year-old Kemp, this will be his first time under the knife.

“Of course I’m nervous,” Kemp said. “I’ve really never had surgery before.

“It could be something you just clean up and it’s as short as six weeks and you could be good, or if he actually has to repair it, it’s going to take a little bit longer. It just depends on how bad it is.”

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