It’s perfectly understandable if you found the Phillies signing of Max Kepler to be underwhelming. After all, Kepler is a 32-year-old outfielder coming off an extremely sub-par season that was hampered by injuries. You’re excused if you didn’t break down the gates of Citizens Bank Park to get your brand-new Kepler jersey.
It is still (incredibly) early in the season, but the early returns have been positive. Kepler demolished the Grapefruit League this spring, hitting .375 with a 1.175 OPS across 50 plate appearances. So far, the German-born outfielder has carried over that production to the regular season, most notably with a three-hit day in the home opener on Monday that included a towering home run that just snuck inside the foul pole.