A small item in the Star Tribune on July 9, 2009, noted some international player signings by the Twins:
Twins rewarded for signing outfielder Max Kepler to an extension
The team gave him a five-year, $35M deal in February, and now he's putting up great stats.
"The most promising of the international prospects the Twins have either signed or have reached agreement with are Jorge Polanco and Jonatan Ynojoso, a pair of shortstops from the Dominican Republic. Mike Radcliff, the Twins vice president of player personnel, said both have offensive upside.
"The Twins also have agreements with Australian righthander Mark Trau and German outfielder Max Kepler. Kepler is considered to be the top prospect out of Europe but is very raw."
Who would have thought that, 10 years later, Kepler and Polanco would not only be leading the Twins' surge to a major league-best 37-17 record, but that both would have signed team-friendly, long-term contracts?
Twins Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine made it a priority this offseason to sign some of their young, high-potential players to extensions. That led to Polanco and Kepler getting five-year deals in February — $25.75 million for Polanco and $35 million for Kepler. Kepler is signed through the 2024 season, when he will be 31.
"I'm super grateful for [the extension]," he said.
Did he ever think this kind of career was possible when he was playing baseball in Germany?
"I don't know, [I] just put in the work, made sacrifices," he said. "Where other kids were having fun, I was at the field playing baseball."
Kepler was spotted by former Twins scout Andy Johnson, who was based in Norway. Johnson saw Kepler as a 14-year-old, playing at a tournament in Germany. He told MiLB.com that, "[Kepler] was young for that tournament, but you just saw the athleticism. His athleticism really stuck out from other players."
Kepler, who said 15 teams were after him when the Twins signed him with a $775,000 bonus, said Terry Ryan — who was a senior adviser to the team at the time, between general manager stints with the club — played a key role in him getting to the big leagues.
"Terry Ryan, he's the guy who gave me the opportunity to play this game," Kepler said. "He gave a kid from Germany a chance. I owe him a lot."
Best stretch of career
Kepler, in his fourth full year with the Twins, is putting together his best season at the plate.
He is hitting .280 with 12 home runs, 14 doubles, 35 RBI and 36 runs scored while primarily hitting leadoff. Just as importantly, he has found success against lefthanded pitchers, something that eluded him in the past.
In the Twins' 5-3 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday, Kepler broke a 0-0 tie with a two-run double to right off Brewers lefthander Alex Claudio. He came around to score on C.J. Cron's RBI double two batters later.
This season he is hitting .275 with 20 RBI in 142 at-bats against righties while hitting .298 with 15 RBI in 47 at-bats against lefties. Compare that to his career batting averages — .248 against righties and .212 against lefties — and the improvement is striking.
"It's baseball, you know, some days you'll hit them good and some days you won't," Kepler said. "I'm just trying to stay in the positive and help my team win."
Kepler has really taken off during his current, career-best 10-game hitting streak. He has hit .452 (19-for-42) with four home runs, 16 RBI and 15 runs scored. The Twins have gone 9-1 in those 10 games.
Kepler also hit in 10 consecutive games between March 31 and April 14, but in that time he hit .318 with three homers, eight RBI and six runs scored.
Keeping it simple
The 26-year-old slugger said he's taken a simple approach at the plate this season and it is producing results.
"I'm trying to play smart ball, put the ball in play and hopefully good things will happen," Kepler said. "I am the same guy. Nothing has changed. I'm still here, thank God."
Kepler took a step back last year, when his batting average dropped from .243 in 2017 to .224 in 2018. He did see a big jump in runs scored from hitting higher in the lineup, going from 67 to 80, but his RBI production dropped from 69 to 58 and his slugging percentage fell from .425 to .408.
He said he tried to keep his offseason changes to a minimum.
"I worked on my mental game, put on some weight, tweaked some things in my swing. But that's just about it," he said.
How does Kepler account for his improvement?
"I don't know, maybe just being more aggressive this year, taking advantage of pitches I can hit," he said. "Keeping it simple."
He also said he's enjoying playing with Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario in a group has become one of baseball's best outfields.
"Yeah, it's fun playing with them every day," he said. "It's definitely something I should appreciate more, to get to be around such talented players."
Kepler also credited hitting coach James Rowson with helping him with his approach to the game.
"He has been here for a couple years now, and he has always been good," Kepler said. "Not always [just] mechanically, but just motivating and always bringing good energy to the field.
"Mainly the mental aspect of the game. We all have the fundamentals down, nice swings, the mechanics are pretty on point. It's just improving mentally and becoming stronger so you can withstand all the adversity and go through a season unphased."
Jottings
• The Twins have jumped to 19th in attendance after averaging 32,995 fans per game over their five-game homestand with the White Sox and Brewers.
• Outfielder Jake Cave has struggled since being sent down to Class AAA Rochester, hitting .224 with two home runs and nine RBI in 15 games.
• The Gophers got in early on the recruiting of Jahari Long, a 6-2 point guard out of Episcopal High in Bellaire, Texas, who has moved up to 146th in the Class of 2020 and is now a four-star recruit, according to 247Sports.com. The Gophers offered Long a scholarship last year and he will make a second visit to campus soon. Long also has scholarship offers from Louisiana Tech, Rice, Seton Hall and Texas Christian.
Sid Hartman can be heard on WCCO AM-830 at 8:40 a.m. Monday and Friday, 2 p.m. Friday and 10:30 a.m. Sunday. • shartman@startribune.com
Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson, the brash speedster who shattered stolen base records and redefined baseball's leadoff position, has died. He was 65.