The Philadelphia Phillies have been among the slowest-moving teams this offseason. Not every top NL team needs to blow up the roster after every season, but major changes always need addressing. The Phillies' case is the growing trend of an offense going in the wrong direction at the worst times.
A path for back-to-back NL East division titles will be more demanding now, with the Atlanta Braves getting healthy and the New York Mets going all in for superstar Juan Soto. Now with the Los Angeles Dodgers refusing to take their foot off the gas, the mountain top of the NL just got a whole lot steeper to climb.
The Phillies need to make moves to improve this roster sooner rather than later. As their second big offseason acquisition, they signed 10-year Minnesota Twins veteran outfielder and soon-to-be 32-year-old Max Kepler to a one-year, $10 million deal. Another outfield bat is warranted, but with Kepler's injury history, it feels like another roll-of-the-dice move by the Phillies. They also took a gamble on signing former Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano after an injury-riddled 2024.
Max Kepler injury history: Phillies taking another free agent gamble
The Phillies' outfield was one of the worst in baseball last year from a production standpoint. Nick Castellanos played all 162 games in right field last year, but outside of games played, the outfield was a revolving door even with Austin Hays being brought into the fold at the trade deadline.
Kepler fills that role and possibly will move Castellanos to left field (subscription required), per Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, but we may have to hold our breath based on his recent injury history. Kepler's inability to stay on the field is a huge concern. Since 2021, he has played 130 games in a season only once and has battled injury every step of the way.
Kepler has made many trips to the injured list, including this past season when multiple day-to-day issues came up, including neck spasms and soreness. The big ones were the missed two weeks in April with a bruised right knee and missed the last month of regular season action with patellar tendinitis in his left knee. In 2023, he had two trips to the IL with patellar tendinitis in his right knee and a hamstring strain. He also dealt with hamstring issues in 2021.
Kepler, when healthy, has noticeable upside to his game. He can play a solid right field and can pop for over 20 home runs like he did in 2023. He gives the Phillies depth at the outfield position and gives Johan Rojas more room to develop his swing, per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
The vision board of fans fails to shrink when a championship is what is expected. Kepler may not have been the first outfield name expected to sign in Philadelphia, but he's here now, and hopefully the Phillies can manage his injury risk and get the production out of him that he's capable of.