Max Kepler and Phillies agree to a one-year contract

The Phillies are finalizing a one-year, $10 million deal with former Twins outfielder Max Kepler, a source told Mark Feinsand and Todd Zolecki of MLB.com on Thursday.

The club has not confirmed an agreement.

Kepler’s 2024 season was marred by injuries. He missed playing time in April due to a bruised right knee and did not play after September 1 due to patellar tendinopathy in his left knee and a hip problem. These injuries also likely contributed to Kepler hitting just .207 with a .516 OPS and one home run in his last 22 games.

Overall, the 31-year-old left-hander posted a .253/.302/.380 batting average with 21 doubles, eight home runs and 42 RBIs in 105 games in 2024. His 91 OPS+ (below the MLB average of 100) also represented a sharp decline in his performance compared to 2023, when he posted an OPS+ of 120. He also hit 24 home runs this season, his highest total outside of 2019 (36), as power increased in the majors.

In nine seasons as the Twins’ starter, Kepler’s OPS+ never fell below 90, but only exceeded 100 three times (including one in the shortened 2020 season). In more than 1,000 career games, Kepler has hit .237/.318/.429, good for an OPS+ of 102, and while he’s fared significantly better overall against right-handed pitchers, he actually had reverse splits last season (.672 OPS). vs. RHP, .721 vs. LHP).

Kepler’s standout skill throughout his career was his defense in right field, where he played more than 900 games. (He also has some experience at center, but last started there in 2021.) Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric dates back to Kepler’s first full season in 2016, and over that span, Kepler’s OAA of plus-58 leads righty Outfielder to all players at that position, just ahead of Mookie Betts (plus-56). His overall OAA of plus-66 ranks him sixth among all outfielders.

These defensive contributions have helped Kepler post 20.7 career WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. That’s the highest in MLB history for a German-born player, surpassing former second baseman Glenn Hubbard’s 19.2 WAR from 1978 to 1989.

However, unlike many German-born major league players whose parents were stationed there due to U.S. military service, Kepler was born and raised in Berlin. The son of two ballet dancers, Kepler attended a baseball academy in Regensburg, was signed by the Twins in 2009 as a 16-year-old and spent the next decade and a half with the organization in Minnesota.