Max Kepler isn’t feeling the brotherly love he says he was promised.
The outfielder hasn’t provided the soundness the Phillies expected him to bring once they signed him to a one-year, $10 million deal this offseason, slashing .209/.300/.383 in 267 plate appearances after Philadelphia’s 2-1 loss in Houston on Thursday.
“The most important challenge for me isn’t playing routinely,” Kepler told The Athletic. “That’s the largest challenge. I used to be told I used to be going to be the starting left fielder.”
In the primary 81 games of the season, Kepler began 60 times — and sparingly when it comes against lefties.
He has only began 3 times when a southpaw was on the mound, good for 10 hits over 49 plate appearances while striking out 10 times.
This distrust of Kepler’s abilities against left-handed pitching has made his season fragmented and inconsistent,
The Phillies, currently without injured slugger Bryce Harper, scored one run in the complete series against the Houston Astros
Other Philly sluggers Alec Bohm, Nick Castellanis, and J.T. Realmuto are having slightly pedestrian seasons — but none have prospect Justin Crawford making a charge for his or her spot like Kepler does.
Crawford is lighting up Triple-A slashing .336/.413/.441.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of the opportunity of a calling up Crawford.
Max Kepler isn’t feeling the brotherly love he says he was promised.
The outfielder hasn’t provided the soundness the Phillies expected him to bring once they signed him to a one-year, $10 million deal this offseason, slashing .209/.300/.383 in 267 plate appearances after Philadelphia’s 2-1 loss in Houston on Thursday.
“The most important challenge for me isn’t playing routinely,” Kepler told The Athletic. “That’s the largest challenge. I used to be told I used to be going to be the starting left fielder.”
In the primary 81 games of the season, Kepler began 60 times — and sparingly when it comes against lefties.
He has only began 3 times when a southpaw was on the mound, good for 10 hits over 49 plate appearances while striking out 10 times.
This distrust of Kepler’s abilities against left-handed pitching has made his season fragmented and inconsistent,
The Phillies, currently without injured slugger Bryce Harper, scored one run in the complete series against the Houston Astros
Other Philly sluggers Alec Bohm, Nick Castellanis, and J.T. Realmuto are having slightly pedestrian seasons — but none have prospect Justin Crawford making a charge for his or her spot like Kepler does.
Crawford is lighting up Triple-A slashing .336/.413/.441.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of the opportunity of a calling up Crawford.
