There are several interesting things about Max Kepler but the most important to the Twins’ future is whether he can become a regular in their lineup—perhaps even a star.
The 23-year-old rookie outfielder was called up from Triple-A Rochester last weekend to replace infielder-outfielder Danny Santana who went on the 15-day disabled list. Kepler played in Sunday’s game as a late inning defensive replacement in right field for Miguel Sano. It didn’t take long for Kepler to show his athleticism when he raced toward the fence and made a spectacular catch on a ball that could have gone for extra bases.
“To tell you the truth I don’t know how he caught that ball,” Jim Rantz told Sports Headliners. “It turned him around about three times, I think, and he caught that ball.”
Rantz is a retired Twins executive who was involved with personnel development when the club signed Kepler as a 16-year-old undrafted free agent in 2009. The Twins found Kepler in Germany and liked his potential so much they gave him a reported $800,000 signing bonus—believed at the time to be the largest ever for a European player.
The Twins were willing to take a gamble on a prospect from far away (going into the 2016 season only 43 German-born players had ever been major leaguers). “I think the genes were there,” Rantz said of the long and athletic Kepler. “His mother and father were ballet dancers.”
Parents Mark Rozycki and Kathy Kepler raised an athletic wunderkind who played baseball, soccer and tennis. He was a swimmer and skier too. He even earned a tennis scholarship to the Steffi Graff Tennis Foundation in Berlin. Along the way he has also learned to speak four languages including English.
As a 16-year-old, Kepler moved to Fort Myers with his mother. The Twins wanted him working out at their complex while he attended nearby Fort Myers High School. “He didn’t have much time socially to do anything because he went from school to the ballpark,” Rantz said.
Kepler hit .322 with 32 doubles, 13 triples, nine home runs and 71 RBI in 112 games at Double-A Chattanooga last season. He was the Southern League MVP during what was his most impressive of six minor league seasons. He entered this year ranked near the top among Twins’ minor league prospects, and Baseball America said his strike-zone discipline was tops in the farm system.
Kepler, 6-4 and about 205 pounds, has played first base in the minors but he has transitioned to the outfield where he continues to be an intriguing fielding and hitting prospect. “He made himself into a pretty good defensive player,” Rantz said. “He’s got that kind of bat that he’s going to hit for average and show a little power at times. He’s got some versatility. He can play the outfield, he can play first base. He’s just a good all-around athlete.”
Manager Paul Molitor has started Kepler in one game so far, Wednesday night, when Kepler was 0-4 at the plate and played in right field. He might return to Rochester when Santana is healthy, and he may not be back in a Twins uniform for awhile, perhaps even next season. But Rantz expects Kepler will one day be a major league regular—maybe a star.
“I think so,” Rantz said. “I think he’s going to be for sure (at least) an average major league player.”
Minnesota is a state in which Germans are the largest ethnic group. Berlin-born Kepler might just make a second home here.
Worth Noting
The Wild, down 1-0 in its Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Stars, has a short turnaround after tomorrow night’s game two in Dallas. The team heads back to the Twin Cities and has scheduled an 11 a.m. practice Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.
Pete Najarian, the nationally-known investment guru and candidate for the Gophers’ athletic director position, speaks to the CORES luncheon group on Thursday, May 12 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Najarian, a Minneapolis native, was a starting linebacker and captain of the 1985 Gophers. He was Academic All-Big Ten three times during his UM career. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations and more information are available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.
Leave it to sports savant Dave Mona to come up with a startling comparison of Gophers and Purdue quarterbacks from the last 60 years. Mona researched back to 1956 and learned former Boilermakers quarterbacks—ranging from Len Dawson to Drew Brees—threw 1,340 touchdown passes as NFL/AFL players. Ex-Gophers have a total of five during the same period. Yes, five!
Minnesota’s Mike Hohensee threw four TD passes as a replacement player for the Bears during the NFL strike season of 1987. Gino Cappelletti, playing for the AFL Patriots, had one TD throw on a busted field goal attempt.
The Gophers’ total goes to six if Spergon Wynn is counted. Wynn played one season at Minnesota in 1996 when he attempted three of eight passes for no touchdowns, according to Sports-reference.com. Wynn, who transferred to Southwest Texas State, later played for the Vikings and threw the only NFL touchdown pass of his career for them, according to Wikipedia.com.
James Johannesson, the reserve redshirt freshman running back from Fargo who surprised fans at the Gophers Spring Game by rushing for 130 yards, comes from a football family. His father James played at Jamestown College while his uncle Jon Norstog played at North Dakota State. Johannesson is probably on anyone’s list of most improved Gophers coming out of spring practices.
Reed Larson, Bob Paradise and others will roast the late Herb Brooks for the Old-Timers Hockey Association during the evening of April 26 at the Prom Center in Oakdale. The Minnesota Minute Men will roast Jerry Kill at a noon lunch May 6 at Jax Café. Jim Carter, Joel Maturi and Ron Stolski will be among those roasting the former Gophers football coach. Dick Jonckowski will emcee both roasts.
Last Monday’s column about Gophers sports and the frustrations of boosters prompted more responses than any other since this website began in 2006. Nearly all responses expressed strong concern about the University of Minnesota’s commitment to athletics.
Baseball great Pete Rose, who was a celebrity guest at the Twin Cities’ Tapemark Charity Pro-Am years ago and still dreams of being enshrined in Cooperstown, turned 75 yesterday.