Matt Kemp has picked up right where he left off last year and is the early front runner for National League MVP award – which he should have won last year. Kemp slugged his seventh home run — most in the big leagues —- in the fifth inning against starter Randy Wolf. Kemp’s home run gave him 18 runs batted in, which ties him for the big league lead with Andre Ethier, who collected his 18th RBI with a single that scored Kemp in the third inning. Over his last seven games, Kemp has gone on an unreal 16-for-29 with nine runs scored, three doubles, five homers and nine RBIs. Fantasy owners who didn’t take Kemp with the No. 1 overall pick have to be kicking themselves right now.

In other fantasy news……

• Michael Cuddyer (toe) expects to be back in the Rockies’ lineup Friday. He left Wednesday’s game with a toe injury, but it appears to be a non-issue
• Justin Upton (thumb) was not in Thursday’s lineup for the third straight day. But, the D’Backs outfielder thinks he’ll be ready to return to action soon.
• BJ Upton (back) will rejoin the Rays lineup on Friday against the Twins.
• Curtis Granderson went 5-for-5 with three home runs. He now has six home runs on the season and remains so dangerous with his pull swing at Yankee Stadium.
• Adam Wainwright struggled again Thursday, giving up four runs over five innings against the Reds. He’s now 0-3 over his first three starts and has a 9.88 ERA.
• Lance Berkman is headed to the disabled list. It’s not clear at this point how long Berkman will be out, but even if it’s the minimum amount of time, he’ll be out until May 4 and will have missed 19 games by then. Berkman’s replacement – Matt Carpenter- is off to a strong start with a homer and 11 RBI in the early going. And, despite his lack of big league experience, he’s also a career .300 hitter in the minors, so the Cardinals can probably get by without Berkman for a couple weeks.
• Brandon League clearly did not have his best stuff on Tuesday, and as a result he wound up blowing a phenomenal start from Felix Hernandez and the game for the Mariners
• Chris Young is expected to miss two-to-three weeks due to slightly torn AC joint in his right shoulder.