The Phillies scored just one run over a three-game sweep at the hands of the Astros this week. They’re still in strong position at 47-34 but have had a poor month offensively, ranking 25th in scoring. Max Kepler has been among those struggling, as he’s hitting .167/.265/.350 over 68 plate appearances in June.
Kepler was out of the lineup for three consecutive games between June 22-25. The Phils faced left-handed starting pitchers in each contest and wanted to shield the lefty hitter from an unfavorable platoon matchup. That didn’t sit well with Kepler, who told The Athletic’s Matt Gelb on Thursday that he was told he “was going to be the starting left fielder” when he signed a $10MM free agent deal with Philadelphia. He added that not playing every day has impacted his rhythm.
The veteran outfielder doubled down on those comments today. “I signed here being told that I was going to be the starting everyday left fielder,” he told reporters before tonight’s series opener in Atlanta (link via Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer). “That’s why I came here.” Manager Rob Thomson pushed back somewhat about Kepler’s gripe, noting that he’s been in the starting lineup for 60 of the team’s 81 games. He’s making his 61st start tonight, hitting fifth and playing left field against Atlanta righty Bryce Elder.
To be clear, there’s nothing to suggest the relationship between Kepler and Thomson has become untenable. The outfielder said today that if he were pushed into a bench role, he’d “take it on and hope to make the most of it.” It’s nevertheless apparent that he wants more playing time against southpaws. A career .221/.291/.362 hitter against lefty pitching, he has hit .222 with one home run in 49 plate appearances against lefties this year.
The greater concern is that Kepler hasn’t produced with the platoon advantage either. He took a .205/.307/.389 slash against righties into tonight’s contest. Kepler had a solid April but owns a .179/.270/.364 line since the start of May. It’s not all that surprising that Thomson would prefer to get another righty bat into the lineup against left-handers when Kepler isn’t performing. Otto Kemp moved from first base to left field for all three of those appearances, which drew utility infielders Buddy Kennedy or Edmundo Sosa into the lineup.
Kepler’s struggles come at a time when outfield prospect Justin Crawford is hitting in Triple-A. The 21-year-old Crawford, a former first-round pick, has a .332/.408/.435 mark at the top minor league level. The son of Carl Crawford, Justin has minimal power but has excellent speed and has shown improved plate discipline. Gelb writes that the organization is bullish on Crawford despite some other teams questioning his offensive approach. He has a 63% ground-ball rate in the minors, a rate that only Jose Iglesias has topped at the MLB level (minimum 100 plate appearances). Thomson told reporters on Thursday that Crawford has “absolutely” put himself on the radar for a big league call.
It leaves the front office with some interesting decisions a month out from the trade deadline. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said this week that the bullpen was understandably their top priority. He downplayed the possibility of adding to the offense. At the same time, the Phillies have gotten minimal production from both corner outfield spots. Kepler and company haven’t hit well in left; Nick Castellanos has been a solid hitter but remains a defensive liability in right.
They could turn to Crawford, but that’d probably require benching one of Kepler or Castellanos. (Crawford can play center field, but Brandon Marsh has been one of the team’s better hitters following a dismal April.) There’s obviously no guarantee that Crawford would produce in his first look at MLB pitching. The Phillies are in a tight battle with the Mets in the NL East and can’t afford to be too patient if he were to struggle.
The lineup should get a major boost with Bryce Harper’s forthcoming return from a wrist injury. Harper hasn’t played since June 6 but told reporters this afternoon that a return next week is “definitely in play” (link via Paul Casella of MLB.com). He took on-field batting practice at Truist Park and is scheduled to hit off a pair of Phils minor league pitchers tomorrow. That could result in a little more outfield playing time for Kemp, their preferred fill-in at first. The 25-year-old rookie hasn’t hit a ton in 17 MLB games — though he did just take Elder deep for his first career home run — but he mashed at a .313/.416/.594 clip in Triple-A.
Ironically, they just scored 11 runs in 3 innings as this article was highlighting their recent offensive struggles.
Baseball is a weird sport.
As always, folks need to look around the league before they look for magical answers. Lots of outfields are even worse. Castellanos is hitting more consistently this year and is mostly serviceable defensively. Marsh after a woeful start has been actually very good. Kepler has disappointed for sure but probably has as good a chance of some improvement in the 2nd half as most of the other mediocrities that we might trade for.
Not sure if Crawford should be called up or not given the state of that swing, but he sure is making them think. They do need to give Kemp some run as the RH option – he has shown enough to see if he can continue to adjust at this level. If he can be a ute with a good RH bat that is a big win for us.
You’re putting thought behind the situation and not offering knee jerk reactions, carverandrews. Be careful.
Carver, yes there’s overreactions but that’s not true about the outfield. Currently, the offensive production from the Phillies outfielders is 28th in baseball. Only in front of the White Sox and the Rockies. One team who had one of worst season in history last year and the other is having an actually worse one this year. If anything it’s a testament to the starting pitching that they can have a lineup this poor across and have the record they do. Also, Rojas is the only plus defender this year and the guy who has played the most innings in the OF this year, Castellanos. Is a 1% defender according to Baseball Savant and since 2022 has been statistically the 2nd worst fielder (regardless of position) in baseball (only ahead of Altuve). So, no, the state of their outfield is that it’s a dumpster fire, especially when Kepler/Marsh/Casty are making almost $35M combined this year.
But that’s beside the point because you can’t fix all 3 OF spots in one summer. They’ll have to wait until the winter and promoting Crawford makes zero sense unless he plays everyday and there’s no way they bench Max or Casty. The OF rebuild will have to be a can kicked down the road and re-examined in November & December.
I had no idea Carl Crawford had a son that played. He looks identical to his dad.
Absolutely no reason to do anything but cut Kepler. Big whiney baby. He sucks and wants to complain. You are stealing $10 million and signed because no one else was dumb enough to pay you so much.
Trade him with Taijuan Walker for Severino.
Or send him to Atlanta. He sounds like an AA special for the outfield corners.
Why the hell would the A’s want either? They’re OF is completely set and then some. And they have more than enough young arms to fill out the rotation plus a few spots even without Severino. They have zero need for Walker. I doubt they’ll net anything too exciting if they choose to deal Sevy, but I can assure you it will be better than Phili’s cast offs.
Seems like the real “Big whiney baby” has the username Never Remember.
I think you got that one right
Very happy that Kepler is no longer with the Twins. No grounds for entitlement when you are hitting .167/.265/.350
Context is key, though. He wasn’t whining as much as stating the difficulties of not playing every day. It’s interesting how easy it is to skew the tone of what he said into a major negative. I’m not saying you did that as much as the media.
Yeah, I don’t understand why someone isn’t allowed to express their dislike of a situation without being called whiny or entitled. People are allowed to be upset, regardless of their batting average. If he was told one thing and he’s getting another, anyone has the right to be upset in that situation. Buncha armchair, wannabe alpha males around here sobbing about someone vocalizing their feelings. God forbid.
What a biotch
Call up Crawford. Speed and energy. Hitting .440 with a 1.131 OPS against lefties. Let the kid play now so he can be ready for the playoffs.
Castallanos is an above average every day right fielder for the Phillies. He isn’t a “defensive liability”.
He has some of the worst fielding metrics of anyone in the league
You must be joking.
Isn’t a defensive liability ? Dude is like -165 defensive runs saved for his career
His advanced metrics are some of the worst if not the worst in baseball. He is horrible out there. If the Phillies cannot resign Schwarber, he will go DH. If they do, they will continue to truly and move him
It’s not April 1st today!
Call up Crawford. Hitting .440 with a 1.131 OPS against lefties. Let the kid play
I guess Kepler has figured out Philadelphia isn’t Minnesota. Produce or don’t play, the ball is in his court
Exactly, Rsox. And Philly doesn’t like crybabies, either. I wonder if Dombro can dump him in a trade to an AL team that needs a LH bat? He reminds me too much of another failed FA signing (Geoff Jenkins).
Phillies owner John Middleton promised to spend big following the team’s latest postseason catastrophe but got cold feet after watching teams like the Dodgers and Mets shell out. Kepler was nothing more than a lousy fallback option.
“catastrophe”? The Phillies lost a playoff series, during which I don’t remember any death or dismemberment. Catastrophize much?
It was a pretty catastrophic meltdown. Crazy how words can have a multiple nuanced meanings isn’t it?
Yes, a word such as ‘crazy’ comes to mind.🙃
They should have just held onto Austin Hayes and truly run it back.
It isn’t just Kepler. When you combine his position with weak power from Marsh, Realmuto, Stott and Bohm it’s too much to overcome. Then throw in Harper’s repetitive use injuries — he’s played baseball only since he was in the womb — and the fact that Castellanos is hitting doubles but not homers. This team will lose in the first round this year, with an unforgivably weak bullpen and despite outstanding starting pitching.
Baseball used to value guys who could get on base, move runners, and manufacture runs — now if you’re not hitting bombs, you’re labeled a liability. That pressure warps roster construction. The Phillies have elite starting pitching, and they’re actually not a bad team when they play situational baseball. But when they start chasing the long ball and forget how to string hits together, they stall out fast
In the playoffs, starting pitching rules. No way we get ousted by, say, Milwaukee or Frisco in Round 1.
Famous last words. We had great SP last year, no hitting and our bullpen — much better than what we have now — faltered. Mets hammered us.
When your payroll is past the 3rd level luxury tax you have to round it out with low risk high reward. However that’s gambling pure and simple and you are going to lose low risk high reward more than you will win. That’s all that’s going on here. Therefore shift the the low risk/cost portion to going with Crawford.
If I’m Dombro, I’m calling up Crawford and playing him every day in CF until he proves he’s underserving. Risky move? Yep, but I don’t believe Crawford will be too scarred if he doesn’t perform and he’s sent back to AAA. After all, he’s still a baby.
To facilitate this move I’m sending Rojas back to AAA. He can’t hit, can’t bunt, can’t draw a BB and is a fundamentally flawed player. At times, he makes Odubel Herrera look like a smart player.
In LF I’ll go with a platoon of Marsh/Kemp. Sorry, Kepler. You ain’t earning much of that $10 million-dollar ill-conceived contract you got. And to think, we could have retained Austin Hays for almost half ($6 million option) that amount.
Lastly, this team looks emotionally dead at times. The recent debacle in Houston is just one example where there was no giddy-up in anyone’s step. So, I’m recalling Garrett Stubbs from AAA. Marchan hasn’t hit much in limited duty, and if our backup C is only gonna get 20 at bats a month, I’d rather have Stubby on the bench doing his Stubby thing. I bet a lot of guys in our clubhouse miss Stubby’s upbeat personality.
I hated letting Austin go. He was hurt then literally almost died from illness, so yeah he played bad coming off his literal death bed. He was cheap and serviceable and hit from the correct side of the plate for their needs.
Nothing to lose and all to gain by calling up Crawford.
Crawford could be a spark plug that ignites the Phillies offense
with his bat and speed.
His Defense is very good also.
Don’t wait for “Hal” crunch too many numbers.
Just do it!
Crawford is likely a .200 hitter at best in the majors right now. That does not help this team and hurts Crawford’s development. I don’t see him as an answer this year.
There’s a RH bat in Arizona that should be on this roster right now hitting dingers.
Too many platoons. Each takes two valuable roster spots. Marsh hits lefties better than Rojas this year. You don’t platoon a guy for a goal of .250 with no power. Let marsh play mostly full time. Let Kemp play full time. He’s hitting both sides better than Kepler and likely has more power. The stott/sosa platoon is the only one that makes sense.
Let Crawford stay in AAA until roster expansion. Let Rojas be a pinch hitter/defensive replacement. Let Kepler be the same.
The only trade they should seek is pray that Boston falls out of the race and go hard after Chapman. They have enough above average relievers. Go after elite.
50 wins. Lol They also don’t strikeout a lot. Out of the 30 teams in baseball, the Phillies have the 20th most strikeouts. So only 10 teams strikeout less than them. It’s easy to make things up based on feel, but luckily we have stats. I assume you mean Romano and not Romero. Romero was a great 8th inning guy for the Phils in 2008.