Remembering Max Kepler's Biggest Moments

[Matthew Lenz]

It was on Halloween 2024 that Max Kepler officially became an unrestricted free agent almost guaranteeing that the longest tenured member of the Twins organization will don a different uniform in 2025. Kepler will go down as one of the best right fielders in franchise history. Let's commemorate his accomplishments in navy and red.

Image courtesy of © Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Max Kepler signed as an international free agent out of Germany in 2009. It would take just over six years for him to make his debut on September 27th, 2015 and only a few days after that for him to record his first hit – a single of Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Johnny Cueto. More than a thousand games later across ten seasons, the right fielder finishes his Twins career with 893 hits, 161 home runs, 2027 putouts, and 46 outfield assists. At the time, we didn’t know that his 4th-inning single off Spencer Schwellenbach on August 27th would be his last. It seems fitting it was at least at Target Field.

While researching his most memorable performances, I found a very fun piece of bar trivia that is a statistical oddity. Kepler, who has hit the most home runs at Target Field with 84, is responsible for hitting the stadium's 600th, 700th, and 1000th home runs. Less fun but still notable, he has the fourth-highest fielding percentage of all right fielders in Major League Baseball history at 99.21%.
 

With his accomplishments noted, let’s relive some of his most memorable performances with the Minnesota Twins. These are presented in no particular ranking or order.

August 1st, 2016  - First Career Three Home Run Game
Oddly enough, Kepler has had two three home run games in his career,  and both came in Cleveland. He took starter, Danny Salazar, deep twice before getting the hat trick against righty reliever Cody Anderson.

June 6th, 2019 - Kepler Adopts Trevor Bauer
It was only the first week of June, and the Twins were already enjoying a 9.5-game lead in the AL Central, well on their way to a franchise and league record-breaking season. Kepler led off the game with a 369-foot blast down the right-field line and followed that up with a 375-foot shot in the third. Not only would he go on to add a no-doubter in the seventh, but he would homer off Trevor Bauer in his first two at-bats a little over a month later. According to Elias Sports, homering in five consecutive at-bats against the same pitcher would be the longest streak since 1961 and would forever require Trevor Bauer to call him Daddy.

June 12th, 2016 - First Career Walk-Off Home Run
Kepler has three career walk-off home runs, the first of which came on June 12th, 2016, against the Boston Red Sox. With two outs and facing an 0-2 hole, the rookie took Matt Barnes deep to give the Twins a 5-4 victory in 10 innings at Target Field. His second career walk-off came just a couple of years later off of Brad Peacock on a full count with two outs.
 

In all, Kepler has walked off his opponent a total of nine times, with the other six being RBI singles.

August 6th, 2023 Game Tying Home Run Leads to Win
Heading into their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Twins were only 3.5 games up on the Cleveland Guardians with under two months left in the season. They were also trying to keep pace with the eventual World Series Champion Texas Rangers in the race for the second-best division winner in the American League. Down one run in the bottom of the 9th, facing Dbacks closer Paul Sewald, Kepler tied the game with a 438-foot missile that allowed Matt Wallner to hit a walk-off home run two batters later, extending their lead to 4.5 games over the Guardians. Throughout his career, Kepler has tied the game or given his team the lead in the 9th inning or later on nine different occasions, but arguably none were as big as the one on August 6th.

June 25th, 2021 - Guns Down Game Tying Run at Second
We can’t commemorate Kepler without at least one highlight of how well he handled right field. One of the bigger moments occurred on June 25th, 2021 when Guardians outfielder, Bradley Zimmer, was trying to stretch a 9th inning single into a double. Like he did so many times Kepler played the ball perfect and after review Zimmer, who represented the tying run, was deemed out at second base for the second out of the inning.
 

While Kepler was up and down throughout his career, his longevity and overall production with the team makes him a future candidate for the Twins Hall of Fame – shoot, if Cuddyer is a Twins Hall of Famer then Kepler should be a lock. While it remains to be seen, I think Twins fans will come to miss Kepler holding down right field with a plus glove and a solid bat. Regardless, we wish him the best of luck in the next chapter of his career!

What were your favorite Kepler memories and moments? Share in the comments and join the conversation!

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[cjm0926]

I think Kepler may be a prime example that you don't notice what you have until its gone. Don't get me wrong, I think it is time to move on and give some other guys a chance to take over right field, but you knew what you were going to get out of Kepler every year. Roughly league average offense and great defense in RF. Gonna miss him and wish him the best.

[IndianaTwin]

I've always enjoyed tracking his stats among those born in Germany. He's the career leader in bWAR -- only Glenn Hubbard and good old Pretzels Getzien are close -- and he's far and away the leader in career homers. 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bio/Germany_born.shtml

[jmlease1]

Max Kepler absolutely owning Bauer in 2019 is a truly delightful Twins memory.

Always liked Kepler. His entire second half in 2023 could merit a place on this list, as he was great down the stretch and carried the team in August.

It's too bad he wasn't able to find a way to consistently hit for power; his 2019 and 2023 seasons stick out pretty clearly as the years where he was able to mash. The rest of the time he was vaguely disappointing on offense while usually providing quality to excellent defense.

The Cuddyer comp isn't that far off; Max was a much better defender (Max had much better range, Cuddy had a better arm, but not by a ton), but Cuddy was a more consistent offensive player. I think a lot of us thought we could expect Cuddyer's power production out of Kepler, especially after he had the big year in 2019, but he couldn't do it. Injuries in the past few seasons certainly played a part.

A good but not great player, but you need guys like Kepler on your roster to support your stars, and if a couple of them have peak years at the same time maybe you can win a title. Someone will offer Kepler a contract, but I'm betting it's a 1-2 year deal to platoon in the corners, maybe DH a little against RHP.

[chinmusic]

Thanks for the memories, Max.

[tony&rodney]

Max and Jorge, Jorge and Max - the best of teammates.

[dxpavelka]

12 hours ago, cjm0926 said:

I think Kepler may be a prime example that you don't notice what you have until its gone. Don't get me wrong, I think it is time to move on and give some other guys a chance to take over right field, but you knew what you were going to get out of Kepler every year. Roughly league average offense and great defense in RF. Gonna miss him and wish him the best.

I agree.  We'll miss him when he's gone.  Not right away, but when Larnach or Wallner or Rodriguez or Martin struggles enough to get sent across the river.  Will probably miss his defense sooner than that.  Would love to see him take a smaller number to return and at that point wouldn't mind seeing someone like Rodriguez play him off the roster.  Won't happen but also not convinced we won't be sitting here in a year wishing it had.

[RLTW894]

For me, Kepler has even more value in life as he did in baseball. My daughter started following baseball when she was 17 several years ago. She knew nothing about the game. Since she was born in Germany, she chose Max as her favorite player.

 

That season, the Twins traded away many key pieces after the All Star break and the year was lost. We started going to Twins games at this time. It didn't matter that they were bad. It was time with my daughter. The two of us have been attending Twins games regularly ever since. Max is the foundation with which we have rebuilt our father/daughter relationship.

 

The last game of that year, in Kansas City, Max gave my daughter her first baseball from an MLB player. The Kansas City fans helped us get that ball from him and it was such a magical moment. After the game, Max returned to us and gave my daughter his red Nike sunglasses. It was a thrilling!

 

As the next few years progressed, we became regulars at Target Field. Even as my daughter's fandom grew to include other favorite players, Max has always been her baseball anchor. Right field is baseball home to her. The thought of that space without Max Kepler is real void in her life. As a father, my love for Max may not be the same reason as just about every female Twins fan, but I've come to follow him and get to know his game, a rekindling of my love for the tiny nuances of baseball. I will miss him, too. 

 

Good luck, Max, and thanks for the memories. We will always be your fans no matter where you end up. One day, I hope to take my daughter back to Germany so she can visit her birth place, and how thrilling if Max could be our guide for a day! 

 

P.S.  When you opened up your stance and lowered your strike zone, that's when you found your power last year. You've worked hard to spread the ball around in order to beat the shift and it's paid off. Last half of last year and first part of this season, you've put it all together. Lay off those low sliders. I genuinely believe you will have a late career resurgence. I wish like crazy the Twins would keep you for baseball reasons. But I believe a good coaching staff with a good eye will benefit you greatly.

[IndianaTwin]

6 hours ago, RLTW894 said:

For me, Kepler has even more value in life as he did in baseball. My daughter started following baseball when she was 17 several years ago. She knew nothing about the game. Since she was born in Germany, she chose Max as her favorite player.

 

That season, the Twins traded away many key pieces after the All Star break and the year was lost. We started going to Twins games at this time. It didn't matter that they were bad. It was time with my daughter. The two of us have been attending Twins games regularly ever since. Max is the foundation with which we have rebuilt our father/daughter relationship.

 

The last game of that year, in Kansas City, Max gave my daughter her first baseball from an MLB player. The Kansas City fans helped us get that ball from him and it was such a magical moment. After the game, Max returned to us and gave my daughter his red Nike sunglasses. It was a thrilling!

 

As the next few years progressed, we became regulars at Target Field. Even as my daughter's fandom grew to include other favorite players, Max has always been her baseball anchor. Right field is baseball home to her. The thought of that space without Max Kepler is real void in her life. As a father, my love for Max may not be the same reason as just about every female Twins fan, but I've come to follow him and get to know his game, a rekindling of my love for the tiny nuances of baseball. I will miss him, too. 

 

Good luck, Max, and thanks for the memories. We will always be your fans no matter where you end up. One day, I hope to take my daughter back to Germany so she can visit her birth place, and how thrilling if Max could be our guide for a day! 

 

P.S.  When you opened up your stance and lowered your strike zone, that's when you found your power last year. You've worked hard to spread the ball around in order to beat the shift and it's paid off. Last half of last year and first part of this season, you've put it all together. Lay off those low sliders. I genuinely believe you will have a late career resurgence. I wish like crazy the Twins would keep you for baseball reasons. But I believe a good coaching staff with a good eye will benefit you greatly.

This is great -- thanks for sharing. 

[RLTW894]

On 11/1/2024 at 1:54 PM, jmlease1 said:

Max Kepler absolutely owning Bauer in 2019 is a truly delightful Twins memory.

Always liked Kepler. His entire second half in 2023 could merit a place on this list, as he was great down the stretch and carried the team in August.

It's too bad he wasn't able to find a way to consistently hit for power; his 2019 and 2023 seasons stick out pretty clearly as the years where he was able to mash. The rest of the time he was vaguely disappointing on offense while usually providing quality to excellent defense.

The Cuddyer comp isn't that far off; Max was a much better defender (Max had much better range, Cuddy had a better arm, but not by a ton), but Cuddy was a more consistent offensive player. I think a lot of us thought we could expect Cuddyer's power production out of Kepler, especially after he had the big year in 2019, but he couldn't do it. Injuries in the past few seasons certainly played a part.

A good but not great player, but you need guys like Kepler on your roster to support your stars, and if a couple of them have peak years at the same time maybe you can win a title. Someone will offer Kepler a contract, but I'm betting it's a 1-2 year deal to platoon in the corners, maybe DH a little against RHP.

Sadly, I see Kepler beginning the journeyman part of his career. Unless a team has been paying close attention to what he's been doing the last 3 years, how he has evolved as a hitter, and how he just recently has been trying to mix that new found hitting with his old power, he's going to be platooned as you noted. If he gets stuck in that role, all this progress will get lost. I really hope the right team that will know how to use him, will take him. He has late career resurgence written all over him.