Recovered and recharged after an injury-plagued 2024 season, Max Kepler is eager to fly to Clearwater next month to meet his new Phillies teammates, get accustomed to his new position and play without pain.
Kepler signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Phils the week before Christmas but was actually in town two months earlier. He would've preferred not to be. Philadelphia was where he underwent bilateral core surgery to repair a partially detached abdominal muscle.
Kepler played through the injury last summer before ultimately telling the Twins in September that he couldn't any longer. His season ended at 399 plate appearances and he hit just .253/.302/.380 with eight home runs and 42 RBI. The prior year, he hit 24 homers with an .816 OPS.
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He thinks there's no doubt the injury affected his performance.
"It was a rough two-three months," Kepler said Thursday. "I'm not one to make excuses but I was seeing my exit velo numbers dip and I was trying to figure out why my whole hitting system was kinda dipping. We were tinkering and working on mechanics and nothing was fixing it."
Kepler knew something wasn't right in July after diving head-first and hitting the ground hard with his lower core area. A few weeks later, he developed knee pain and wondered if it was from overcompensation.
"I continued to play and kinda disregarded the symptoms and tried to be there for my team," he said. "But the numbers really didn't show and I was just digging myself a deeper hole with my individual stats and performance."
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Kepler's surgery was performed on October 2 by Dr. William Meyers, and the outfielder said he could see Citizens Bank Park from the window of his hospital room. He considered making the short trip over to watch the Phillies face the Mets in the NLDS but decided against it.
Kepler didn't know then that he'd end up a Phillie, but this was the type of opportunity he was looking for — a one-year, deal and a chance to reestablish free-agent value while playing for a team that has a chance to win it all in 2025.
"I feel, I'd say, 100 percent," Kepler said. "I'm doing everything. I'm swinging, hitting, running, throwing pain-free.
"If I'm healthy, I'm fine. When health isn't an issue, then to me, the game is all mental. Finding a groove and riding that wave as long as I can has always been a project. You have to just keep making adjustments."
The Phillies intend to play Kepler every day unless he gives them a reason not to. Like Brandon Marsh, he is a left-handed hitter and it would be difficult to platoon in both outfield corners.
For his career, Kepler is a .243 hitter with a .778 OPS vs. right-handers and a .221 hitter with a .655 OPS vs. lefties.
He has had some decent years against same-handed pitching, though. In his best year, 2019, Kepler hit .293 vs. lefties. From 2022-24, he hit .254.
"I don't view myself as someone who struggles against lefties," he said. "It varies, it depends on the year. There have been a couple years in my career when I struggled against lefties but it's not like I struggled every single year. So I would never view myself as someone who struggles against lefties.
"I think once a lefty consistently sees a lefty, just like righties consistently get to see righties, it comes easier. Obviously, if you don't see a lefty for months, then it's going to be something new at a different angle coming at you opposed to what you're used to."
Kepler will likely bat fifth or sixth against a right-handed starter and could drop a few spots lower against a lefty. He will play left field, with the Phils keeping Nick Castellanos in right field.
Kepler has not played left field since the low levels of the minor leagues but plans to arrive in Clearwater early for spring training to get as many reps as possible.
"I'm very easily adjustable so I'm not worried about the transition from right to left," he said. "What I'm looking forward to is learning how the park plays and the little nooks and corners. I think I'll be able to actually reach over the wall now for once in my career to try to rob homers as opposed to that big right-field wall in Minnesota which never gave me the opportunity.
"I'm just gonna have to try to play the slice differently than in right. I'm excited for it all."