Max Kepler

Kepler was born in Berlin, Germany. His parents, Kathy Kepler and Marek Różycki, were both professional ballet dancers; they met when they performed in the same ballet company in Berlin.[2] His mother is from San Antonio, Texas,[3] while his father is from Poland. He has one sister, Emma Różycki, a former golf prodigy.[4]

At the age of six, Kepler started baseball at the Little League level with the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin.[5] Though he received a scholarship at age seven to the Steffi Graf Tennis Foundation,[2] he decided to choose baseball.[5] Kepler attended John F. Kennedy School,[3] and the St. Emmeram Academy in Regensburg in 2008, where he was able to train in baseball more than the average American teenager.[6][7] He played association football with Hertha BSC,[3] and played baseball for Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg of the Bundesliga, the highest baseball league in Germany.[3][8]

Andy Johnson, an international scout working for the Minnesota Twins of MLB, first noticed Kepler when he played in a junior national tournament at the age of 14.[2] At 16, he signed with the Twins in 2009 for US$800,000, the largest signing bonus given by an MLB franchise to a European-born player.[3][6] Kepler made his American debut in the rookie level in 2010 Gulf Coast League (GCL) with the GCL Twins. He was promoted to the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie-Advanced Appalachian League in 2011. He was assigned to Elizabethton for the 2012 season.[9] An elbow injury delayed the start of Kepler's 2013 season, when he was assigned to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Class A Midwest League.[10] Following the regular season, the Twins assigned Kepler to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League.[11]

After the 2013 season, the Twins added Kepler to their 40-man roster, and he was invited to spring training.[12] Kepler played for the Fort Myers Miracle of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League in 2014, and opened the 2015 season with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League.[13] Kepler was selected to represent the Twins at the 2015 All-Star Futures Game,[14] though a sore shoulder prevented him from playing.[15] Kepler finished the 2015 season with a .327 batting average, nine home runs, and 18 stolen bases. He was named Southern League Player of the Year.[16]

The Twins promoted Kepler to the major leagues on 21 September 2015, the night after the Lookouts won the Southern League championship.[17] He made his major league debut on 27 September 2015 and recorded his first hit on 4 October 2015.[18][19] After Donald Lutz, Kepler is the second German-developed player to play in modern MLB.[20]

The Twins assigned Kepler to the Rochester Red Wings of the Class AAA International League to start the 2016 season.[21] After playing in two games for Rochester, the Twins promoted him to the major leagues to replace the injured Danny Santana on 10 April.[22] Fifteen days later, Kepler was optioned to Rochester.[23] On 1 June, Kepler was recalled to replace the injured Miguel Sanó, and he began getting regular starts for the Twins in right field. The next day, Kepler had his first multiple-hit game, and on 12 June, Kepler swatted his first major league home run, a walk-off three-run shot in the 10th inning off of Matt Barnes of the Boston Red Sox.[24] On 1 August against the Cleveland Indians, Kepler became the first European-born MLB player to hit three home runs in one game and the fifth Twins player to do so after Bob Allison, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, and Justin Morneau.[25] On 8 August, Kepler was named co-American League Player of the Week, his first time receiving that honor, alongside teammate Joe Mauer.[26]

Kepler started opening day 2017 against the Kansas City Royals, and collected a hit in his first at bat.[27] In a game against the Chicago White Sox on 31 August, Kepler came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded. Opposing pitcher Juan Minaya threw a slider inside and Kepler got hit by the pitch and became the second player in Twins history to have a walk-off hit-by-pitch.[28][29] It gave the Twins their 20th win in August.[29] Kepler finished the year with career highs in games played, with 147, batting average of .243, home runs with 19, and 69 runs batted in (RBIs).[19] In 2018, Kepler had a batting average of .224 and hit 20 home runs with 58 RBIs in 156 games. His 20 home runs and 156 games played were both career highs.[19]

Kepler in 2017

Kepler signed a five-year, $35 million contract on 14 February 2019.[30] He won his second American League Player of the Week award for the week of 26 May, he led MLB that week in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage with a line of .571/.600/1.190.[31] He had his second career three-home-run game against the Cleveland Indians on June 6; all three home runs came against starting pitcher Trevor Bauer.[32] In a game against the Indians on 13 July, Kepler hit two home runs in his first two at bats against opposing starting pitcher Trevor Bauer,[33] those two home runs were the fourth and fifth straight home runs hit against Bauer in consecutive at bats. This was the first time in MLB history that a batter hit a home run in five consecutive at bats against the same pitcher during a single season.[34] On 16 August 2019, Kepler hit his 33rd home run of the season, setting an MLB record for home runs in a single season by a European-born player, passing former Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson.[35] He batted .252/.336/.519, and set career highs in home runs, runs, and hits, and he also led the major leagues in pull percentage (53.4%),[36] and finished 20th in MVP voting.[19]

Kepler started 2020 by hitting a home run on the first pitch of the season against the Chicago White Sox, following that with another home run in his second at bat.[37] He became the second player to hit a home run in the first two innings in a season following Ted Kluszewski of the Angels (April 11, 1961).[38] Overall, Kepler finished with a .228 average with 9 home runs and 23 RBI in 48 games during the 60-game season.

In 2021, he batted .157 against left-handers, the lowest batting average in the major leagues.[39]

During the 2022 season, Kepler was restricted from playing a three-games series against the Toronto Blue Jays due to Canadian Government banning non-vaccinated travelers to enter.[40]

Kepler previously dated American soccer player Abby Dahlkemper, and American-born Mexican soccer player Katie Johnson. He is the nineteen-great-grandson of German astronomer, Johannes Kepler.[41]

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• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet