Rays broadcaster hit Max Kepler with “80 games ago that’s probably a homer” line after a warning track fly out in D-Backs debut

Max Kepler made his Diamondbacks debut this week after serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a steroid intended to increase muscle and appetite.

On Saturday at Tropicana Field he flew out to the warning track in center. Cedric Mullins caught it with his back against the wall. Rays broadcaster Brian Anderson watched the ball die at the track and said “80 games ago, that’s probably a homer” on the live broadcast.

Solid shot at a guy whose power output is going to be questioned every time a fly ball doesn’t make it over the fence for the foreseeable future.

Brian Anderson Calls Out Max Kepler

"80 games ago that's probably a homer."

Max Kepler just missed a home run and the Rays announcer brought up how Kepler was suspended 80 games for steroids pic.twitter.com/8TNVrpE9Hc

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 28, 2026

Max Kepler spent 2025 with the Phillies on a one-year, $10 million deal. He played 127 games and hit .216/.300/.391 with 18 homers and 52 RBI. PEDs or not, those numbers weren’t exactly screaming “pay me” anyways.

The Diamondbacks picked him up for cheap after the suspension and he’s trying to rebuild his career with a new team in a new league while carrying the baggage of a PED violation that is going to color how people view every at-bat he has going forward.

A warning track fly out from any other player is just a long out, but from a guy who just came back from a steroid suspension it becomes content because the obvious question of whether the pre-suspension version hits that ball five feet farther is impossible to ignore even if nobody can actually prove it.

Anderson’s call was a clean eight-word shot that said what everyone watching was already thinking without belaboring the point, which is about as well as you can handle that kind of moment in the booth.

Between Max Kepler getting called out on a live broadcast and Rojas tearing his UCL during his own PED rehab without playing a single game for the Phillies this season, it’s been a rough year for guys who tested positive and are trying to move forward like nothing happened.

Join The Chase