As the Philadelphia Phillies scuffled through an up-and-down April, fans were becoming agitated. A five-game losing streak, that included a sweep at the hands of the rival New York Mets, had some prematurely smashing the panic button.
It hasn't been perfect, by any means, but the Phillies have won three straight series since then, going 6-2 in the process. One reason for the most recent run of success is the emergence of offseason signing Max Kepler. The veteran outfielder has been pouring it on at the plate after a slow start.
Kepler's first 19 games of the year had fans panicking — even mistakenly starting to compare the 32-year-old to the Phillies' disastrous free agent signing of Whit Merrifield ahead of the 2024 season. Through April 20, Kepler hit .217 with a .641 OPS and one home run. He was still picking up walks, and striking out at a 19.2 percent clip, which is better than league average. However, in a vacuum, the signing looked like another offseason gaffe.
But baseball's a long season, and things can change in a hurry.
Max Kepler flipping the narrative after early criticism of Phillies' offseason signing
How fast can they change? Since the Phillies arrived in New York on April 21, Kepler has been the team's hottest hitter. He's batting .342 with a 1.106 OPS in 43 plate appearances over his last 12 games. He has racked up a .711 slugging percentage with a pair of doubles and four home runs over that time, with the homers all coming in his last six starts. The former Twin is also striking out at an even better 16.3 percent rate.
As we predicted in January, Kepler is starting to love hitting at Citizens Bank Park. The ballpark is exceptionally home run hitter-friendly for left-handed batters, and Kepler mashed three of his home runs at CBP over the last home stand.
The Phillies told us that the plan was for Kepler to be an everyday player (subscription required) after signing him to a $10 million contract, per The Philadelphia Inquirer's Lochlahn March in December. Much of the offseason criticism of the signing was focused on why the Phillies would sign another left-handed bat to add to an already lefty-heavy lineup.
Kepler had a career .221 batting average and 21.2 percent strikeout rate against lefties coming into this season. Last year, he did hit .273 with a .720 OPS against them, but still struck out 23.2 percent of the time.
For Kepler to silence the critics and become an everyday player in red pinstripes, he'd have to hit left-handed pitching. It didn't look good early. He posted a .182 batting average against lefties through the end of April. But Kepler has been working at it in the cage, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
While he's still batting just .208 versus southpaws, he came up big with a game-winning home run on Friday against Diamondbacks lefty José Castillo, giving the Phillies a 3-2 win. It was his first hit against a left-hander in six plate appearances dating back to April 20. He also managed to muscle a sacrifice fly against lefty Jalen Beeks in the 10th inning in Sunday's 11-9 loss.
On the season, Kepler has raised his average up to .262 with an .806 OPS, five home runs, 11 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
Kepler should see plenty of playing time in the coming week. With the Phillies starting a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field on Tuesday, they're lined up to face Rays right-handers Drew Rasmussen, Shane Baz and Ryan Pepiot. It also looks like they'll face three right-handers when they head to Cleveland to take on the Guardians over the weekend, so Kepler will have the opportunity to keep the critics at bay if he can keep the hot bat going.