New outfielder Max Kepler to become Phillies’ every day left fielder: ‘A big, strong guy’

Max Kepler, the Phillies’ new everyday left fielder, has never played an inning of left field in the major leagues.

The 31-year-old has played 927 games at right field and 159 games at center over the last 10 years with the Minnesota Twins. But when the Phillies signed him to a one-year deal on Friday, it technically was to play a new position.

As a right fielder, Kepler has a career 57 outs above average, which ranks first at that position since 2016. The Phillies are hoping those skills will translate to the opposite corner.

“If you’re good at one, there’s a little bit of adjustment with how the ball comes off the bat to left field,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said in a Zoom call on Friday. “But, and we talked to Max, [it’s an] easy adjustment, he feels, for him.”

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Playing Kepler in left will allow Nick Castellanos to remain in right field, where he started 157 games for the Phillies last year (he was the designated hitter for five games), while Brandon Marsh will slide to center.

Dombrowski said he doesn’t expect Kepler to be used in a platoon, even though he is a career .221 hitter against left-handed pitching compared to .243 against righties.

“Last year, he actually was a little better vs. left-handed pitching, but we think he can play vs. both,” Dombrowski said. “I would say he has more production vs. right-handed pitching, but we’re looking at him playing every day.”

Though it’s been a while, Kepler did play all three outfield positions as a minor leaguer with the Twins. The Phillies received some intel from former scout Terry Ryan, who was Minnesota’s general manager while Kepler was rising through the minor league system.

“We called Terry when we were thinking about signing him. He’s always spoken very highly of Max,” Dombrowski said. “He said, ‘Makeup-wise, great, tremendous.’ … He said, ‘Dave, I saw him play all three outfield positions and first base, and he can play all of them very well. I wouldn’t worry about that at all.’”

Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long had a chance to get eyes on Kepler while he was working out in Arizona before he signed with the Phillies. Kepler has now recovered from a core muscle surgery he underwent at the end of the season, which Dombrowski described as a “sports hernia-type of surgery.”

Before patellar tendinitis in his left knee ended his season in September, Kepler had played through a hip injury for most of the year. His 2024 numbers reflected it. Kepler slashed .253/.302/.380 and hit a career-low eight home runs.

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After the holidays, Kepler plans to work further with Long in Arizona.

“When Kevin Long saw him hit the other day, first of all, [Kepler’s] a big, strong guy,” Dombrowski said. “He can hit the ball a long way, but [Long] said, ‘This guy is very impressive, the way he goes about his business, what we can do with him, the way the ball jumps off his bat.’ So there’s no question, this guy’s a good, solid player, and we think that last year’s injury did bother him.”

The Phillies’ deal with Kepler follows the Jordan Romano signing, which also was a one-year deal with another player looking to rebound after an injury-marred season.

“There’s been other players that we’ve looked at this wintertime that we haven’t been comfortable with their medicals coming off of injuries, but we felt very comfortable with both of these guys,” Dombrowski said. “… I do like the flexibility for us with the one-year deals. We’re in a situation where we have a lot of long-term contracts. We’ve got some young players coming up through the system that we’re excited about, and we’re very close to getting that impact. So the one-year flexibility doesn’t hurt.”