Max Kepler is having fun in Philadelphia after surviving rock bottom: ‘It’s been a very special year’
PHILADELPHIA – Max Kepler has rewarded the Phillies for their faith.
Kepler’s status on the major league roster was up in the air near the trade deadline. Philadelphia was looking for a new outfielder, partly because Kepler, signed to a one-year, $10 million deal, couldn’t get out of an extended slump. He finished June and July with an OPS below .600.
The Phillies ironically ended up with Harrison Bader, who essentially replaced Kepler in Minnesota. It appeared Bader was going to replace Kepler again.
That is until Rob Thomson gave Kepler another lifeline. He announced a six-day trial platoon in left and center field. Thomson was heavily criticized for putting Kepler in the starting lineup and leaving Bader out the day after the deadline. Kepler was heavily booed every time he made an out. It was uncomfortable for everyone. His season OPS had dropped all the way to .645 on Aug. 4. He was one out away from falling below the Mendoza line. Since then, he has raised his batting average by 21 points.
A great game against the Orioles’ Dean Kramer on Aug. 5 kicked off his rise from rock bottom. Since going 2-for-4 with a home run and a double that day, Kepler is batting .307 with a .921 OPS. He drove in five runs in a game for the first time since 2016 in an 11-3 Phillies win over the New York Mets on Wednesday. He also recorded two hits against a left-handed pitcher for the first time since July 13, 2024. Both came against former Phillie Gregory Soto, who Kepler is 7-for-15 lifetime against.
He’ll almost certainly be out of the lineup on Thursday when the Phillies face left-hander David Peterson. The Phillies began limiting Kepler’s looks against left-handed pitching in the first week of the season. It led to frustration and some choice words after he sat three games in a row in the middle of June.
He has a better feel for his role now.
“I think everyone’s on board with the same goal,” Kepler said about the outfield rotation. “And everyone’s moving at the same pace. People are contributing and they’re contributing as a teammate by cheering the guy on in the box and whoever is on the field. There’s a feeling that everyone has each other’s backs, even if you’re playing or not.”
Thomson said he approached Kepler at the beginning of the second half to remind him that he’s “in a good spot” and the team “believes in him.” His results were poor, but the Phillies were encouraged by his ability to hit the ball consistently hard. His 45.8% hard-hit rate in 2025 is the second-highest of his career.
“You have to really believe in the back of a guy’s baseball card and that it’s going to happen at some point,” Thomson said.
With more success comes more comfort and confidence for Kepler. He was admittedly anxious about entering a new clubhouse with new faces for the first time in his 11-year major league career.
“Me personally, I was trying to prove myself,” Kepler said. “And I played the game more as an individual. … Not in a selfish way, but just being a new guy on a new team in a new organization. I was trying to do a little more than I usually am used to doing in my controlled setting. But I think after the trade deadline, everyone kind of takes a breather and is like, “OK, now we’re here. This is who we have for the long run.’”
Kepler now also understands the formula to win fans over in Philadelphia. He joked in an August interview about the Mets losing. He wore a t-shirt portraying a famous Phillies related scene from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” After breaking his bat on his first hit against Soto, he smashed it in half with his quad in what he called “a hardo moment.” It didn’t hurt.
“I don’t know what got into me there,” he said.
But none of the silly stuff works if you can’t hit. Once a DFA candidate, Kepler has performed his way into a meaningful role on a title contender.
“Everyone that asks from the other side, other teams that I come across, I tell them that the group of guys that we have in here is (one of the most fun) groups I’ve had in my career,” Kepler said. “There’s a bunch of characters in here. Baseball aside, that’s what I appreciate now at this point in my career. It’s just the journey and the group of dudes I get to meet and work with and what they do behind the scenes to go out there and do this every day. To learn from them has been everything I could ask for. It’s been a very special year for me, in that aspect.”