Phillies Could Be Getting Closer to Moving On From Max Kepler

The Philadelphia Phillies -- and more specifically Dave Dombrowski -- need to have some hard conversations before they make some difficult decisions prior to July 31.

This roster is talented and good enough to win it all. But they are going to need a lot of breaks to go their way if that's going to happen.

That's because there are inherent flaws with this roster as currently constructed.

Outside of Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber -- the two players who have performed all year long -- there are a lot of questions up and down the lineup.

Bryce Harper will likely return to his elite form after being out for the better part of June, but when that happens, the Phillies are still top heavy with the trio of Turner, Schwarber and Harper not having consistent performers behind them.

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Alec Bohm is streaky. Nick Castellanos still has chasing issues in big spots. J.T. Realmuto continues to decline at the plate. Bryson Stott looks like a shell of his former self on offense. And Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas have yet to put it together.

But perhaps the most disappointing hitter of them all has been Max Kepler.

Signed to a one-year, $10 million contract this past offseason, the hope was Philadelphia would get the best version that he could offer.

It seemed like things were trending that way early on, with his underlying metrics suggesting a real power surge would be coming during the 2025 campaign.

However, those hopes are now dashed.

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Since the stretch of games from June 10-17 when Kepler recorded a hit in seven straight contests, he has gone 9-for-51 with just one homer and no other extra-base hits, striking out 17 times along the way.

Simply put, outside of solid defense in left field, he is not providing the Phillies with anything.

Because of that, Philadelphia could be getting closer to outright moving on from the failed offseason signing in the coming weeks.

Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required) reported that the Phillies are interested in finally calling up star prospect Justin Crawford at some point this summer after he continues to perform well in Triple-A.

With that in mind, they could try to deal from their current outfield group ahead of the trade deadline, which puts Kepler firmly on the block.

However, based on what he's done thus far, it's going to be hard to move him, which creates the possibility that he could be flat out designated for assignment and eventually released since he's owed less than $5 million over the remainder of the year.

That possibility is inching closer to becoming a reality.

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Philadelphia can't keep rolling this same group out there and expect the offense to magically perform like one of the best units in baseball.

Entering Saturday, they rank 12th in runs scored, a massive disappointment when looking at their payroll and the names throughout their lineup.

If Dombrowski is serious about pushing this group to the next level, then he needs to make some hard decisions soon.

That could include moving on from Kepler.

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