Max Kepler says he was told he would be the starting left fielder when he signed with the Phillies, failing to realize that he’s actually not that good at baseball

Is Max Kepler serious?

Things aren’t going great in Phillies land but hey, how can you not be romantic about baseball? I know it’s cliche but the rollercoaster of massive highs and soul crushing lows really bring out the best in any fanbase.

In case you chose to ignore it, the Phillies scored one run over three games in Houston. The lineup, as we’ve seen a million times over at this point, completely disappeared at the plate.

Houston completed the sweep Thursday afternoon with a 2-1 win, thanks to a Cam Smith RBI single off Orion Kerkering in the bottom of the eighth. It was the same script, just with a different supporting actor.

The Phillies wasted another excellent outing from their rotation. This time, Cristopher Sánchez went six strong with 11 strikeouts and zero walks.

The bats stayed asleep, managing just four singles in the finale and finally snapping a 26-inning scoreless streak with a Brandon Marsh sac fly in the eighth.

That’s what counted as an offensive explosion in this series.

We have scored pic.twitter.com/WapTQIXogc

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 26, 2025

The Numbers Are Grim:

• The Phillies were outscored 5-1 over three games.
• They had 1 extra-base hit all series.
• They never led once in 27 innings of baseball.
• They became just the 10th team in modern MLB history to be swept in a series while allowing five runs or fewer total.

Let that last one sink in.

This wasn’t a meltdown by the pitching staff. It wasn’t bullpen chaos. It was straight-up offensive ineptitude.

All that being said, check out Max Kepler, who’s apparently upset that he’s not an every day left fielder on the Phillies after being promised that role when the Phillies signed him over the winter.

Max Kepler upset that he’s not an everyday left fielder, via Matt Gelb, The Athletic:

Kepler, a lefty hitter, was brought in to be a stable presence in an outfield corner of the outfield. They could not find the proper righty and settled on Kepler. He’s hitting .209/.300/.383 in 267 plate appearances. He is not the problem, just a problem.

“The biggest challenge for me is not playing routinely,” Kepler said after Thursday’s loss. “That’s the biggest challenge.”

Kepler was under the impression he would.

“Yeah,” he said, “I was told I was going to be the starting left fielder.”

He has started 60 of the first 81 games but only three times against a lefty starter. He sat the last four days. He bounced one to second base in his first at-bat. He ran, then slowed down as he neared the bag. The Astros turned a 4-6-3 double play that Kepler might have beaten with a better effort. He struck out looking in the fifth, then hit a weak groundout to first in the seventh.

Man, there’s a lot to unpack here and all signs point towards Max Kepler being completely oblivious to the fact that his numbers aren’t good enough to be a starter on any team in Major League Baseball.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand what Max Kepler is saying. It’s difficult for anyone get in a rhythm when they are platooning. When you are sharing time with guys like Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas, that must be an even harder pill to swallow, right?

Max Kepler thinks he’s an everyday player.

His numbers say otherwise and because he’s running out of excuses, he’s now throwing it back at Topper and/or the Phillies for saying he was promised the starting job in left.

None of that shit matters. Just look at the numbers.

Cry Baby Max Kepler has started 60 of 81 games, which on paper sounds like a regular gig. ntil you realize he’s barely touched the field against lefties and hasn’t sniffed a start in the past four games.

Kepler is 10-45 with a homer and 5 RBIs in 49 at-bats against left handed pitchers this season. He’s hitting .222 with a .265 OBP and .356 SLG, good for a .621 OPS.

In those 45 at-bats, he’s struck out 13 times. 

Overall, Max Kepler is hitting .209 with 49 hits, 9 homers, 27 RBIs and 32 runs scored in 72 games this season.

Did Matt Gelb ask Max Kepler what part of his stats show that he’s an everyday player?

I would have just whipped out my phone mid conversation and showed him this tweet from Drizzy Drake about bench players talking like starters and how much I hate when that happens.

Max Kepler has been given the opportunity, he just hasn’t taken it, so maybe…

Everyone should just come out and say that Johan Rojas doesn’t deserve to be playing baseball at the Major League level because that’s the problem here

In the last week and a half, Nick Castellanos was benched for making an inappropriate comment, Brandon Marsh threw a little shade after a platoon decision, and now Max Kepler is crying to the media.

You know who hasn’t said a word about anything? Johan Rojas. Why? Because he sucks and no one actually believes he’s supposed to be playing at the Major League level. Will Topper or the Phillies read the room here?

When will beat writers like Matt Gelb actually ask good follow up questions and get us some answers from these guys?

That’s two-thirds of the outfield openly frustrated with Rob Thomson’s decisions while the team is still sitting 13 games over .500 and everyone and their mothers know that Johan Rojas shouldn’t be playing.

What are we doing?

Don’t take this as a defense of Max Kepler or Brandon Marsh either. They both had plenty of opportunities to earn a starting role on this team and neither of them, I REPEAT, NEITHER OF THEM, have taken the opportunity.

They both need to shut the fuck up. I would honestly move Bryce Harper back to the outfield and keep Otto Kemp at first base just to send a message that Kepler and Marsh shouldn’t be pissed about anything. Their focus should be on the baseball diamond and actually producing at a consistent level that they would be considered everyday players.

The Phillies Are Still Good at Baseball…Right?

Despite the vibes being in the toilet right now, this is still the sixth-best team in baseball. They’ve survived extended absences from Bryce Harper, Aaron Nola, and Jose Alvarado. They just took 2 of 3 from the Mets last weekend. The rotation is cruising.

Obviously, none of that matters when the offense goes ice cold and the bullpen can’t lock down leads. And then on top of it, you get a Max Kepler “I was told” headline dropped right into the mix. This team is giving serious “we’re sick of each other” energy, and it’s not even July yet.

Deadline Looms, The Dave Dombrowski Clock Ticks…

We’re approaching the part of the season where Dave Dombrowski has to decide whether he’s buying big, buying small, or just letting this weird, grumpy, underachieving group figure it out on their own.

Last week, he was on Jayson Stark’s podcast saying that he doesn’t think he needs to do anything at all which is a whole different issue I discussed below.

Dave Dombrowski says “we like where we are” and obviously, that’s a big problem for the Phillies

That’s a dangerous gamble with a rotation this good. I you don’t capitalize now — when Wheeler, Luzardo, Ranger, and Sánchez are all dealing, when exactly are you going to?

The vibes are bad, but they could all change this weekend. Go sweep the Braves and suddenly, we’re back in business.

Until then, I don’t want to hear a damn word from anyone on the Phillies. Everyone just shut the fuck up and win baseball games.

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