The Philadelphia Phillies have signed right fielder Max Kepler of Berlin, Germany according to Rogers Sportsnet. The terms of the deal are for one year and worth $10 million.
Second Major League Baseball franchise
The Phillies are Kepler’s second Major League Baseball franchise. He previously played the last decade with the Minnesota Twins.
2024 with the Twins
Kepler batted .253 with eight home runs and 42 runs batted in. During 105 games, 368 at bats, and 399 plate appearances, Kelper has scored 43 runs and had 93 hits, 21 doubles, one triple, one stolen base, 22 walks, 140 total bases, three sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .302, and a slugging percentage of .380. Ironically, the lone triple came against the Phillies in a 5-4 Twins win on July 24. The stolen base came in a 6-5 Twins over the Chicago White Sox on April 30.
Twice Kepler had three hits and four runs batted in during a game. On each occasion he hit a three-run home run. The first time came in a 10-inning 6-5 Twins win over the Oakland Athletics on June 14, and the second time came on August 13 in a 13-3 Twins win over the Kansas City Royals.
Best German born MLB player ever
There is no doubt that Kepler is in the conversation as the best Major League Baseball player ever from Germany. He is first all-time in home runs (161), runs scored (554), and runs batted in (508). Kepler is also third all-time in hits with 893 (behind former Atlanta Braves All-Star Glenn Hubbard of Hahn who had 1084, and 19th century third baseman Bill Kuehne of Leipzig who had 993, and played primarily with the Allegheny City Statistics), second all-time in doubles with 205 (behind Hubbard with 214), fifth all-time in triples with 16 (behind Kuehne with 115, Hubbard with 22, former Chicago Cubs and Pirates first baseman Fritz Mollwitz of Koburg with 19 and former Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians catcher Fritz Buelow of Berlin with 18), third all-time in stolen bases with 35 (behind Kuehne with 150 and Mollwitz with 70), and second in walks with 412 (behind Hubbard with 539).
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