Diamondbacks Designate Max Kepler For Assignment

The Diamondbacks have designated outfielder Max Kepler for assignment and recalled catcher Adrian Del Castillo from Triple-A Reno, the team announced. They now have two open 40-man roster spots.

A longtime Twin, Kepler was at his best during a 3.9-fWAR, 36-home run season in 2019. That Twins team, known as the “Bomba Squad,” set the all-time single-season HR record (307, which the 2023 Braves tied). Kepler more recently totaled 2.7 fWAR and slugged 24 homers with the Twins in 2023, but his production has gone downhill since then. He has accounted for just 1.0 fWAR over a combined 1,018 plate appearances with the Twins, Phillies and D-backs since 2024.

After hitting .216/.300/.391 (88 wRC+) with 18 homers in 474 trips to the plate with Philadelphia last year, Kepler went unsigned until early June. Although he began the season serving an 80-game PED suspension, Arizona gave him a major league deal worth a prorated $780K.

The Diamondbacks activated Kepler on June 25, but he slumped to a .205/.262/.303 line with just two HRs, a career-worst .098 ISO and a 53 wRC+ over a 41-game, 145-plate appearance span. The 33-year-old has typically offered decent numbers against righties, though they held him to a brutal .192/.256/.283 line (47 wRC+) during his short run with the Snakes. The D-backs shielded the lefty-swinging Kepler from same-handed pitchers, whom he faced just 12 times before his designation.

Kepler made all 35 of his defensive starts with the Diamondbacks in left field. The team has also used several other players in left this season, though Ryan Waldschmidt and trade deadline pickup Lars Nootbaar are the only others who have made starts there in the past several weeks.

Although Kepler was not part of the solution for Arizona, it will enter Sunday a solid 75-68 and a half-game ahead of the NL West rival Padres for the last Wild Card spot. Meanwhile, Kepler will presumably clear waivers and elect free agency. He has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment and collect the rest of his salary.