Injury ends Max Kepler’s 2024 regular season and, possibly, his Twins career

Max Kepler, the longest-tenured Twins player, is not expected to rejoin the team for the final week of the regular season, and that might end his time in the organization.

After Kepler received a cortisone shot for his hip pain last week, he faced live pitching Monday and said he doesn’t feel healthy enough to contribute to a Twins team fighting to stay alive in the playoff race.

“I’d like to feel great,” Kepler said. “At this point, with six games that are very crucial games to finish the season here, we want the guys on the field that have all the health to give as opposed to a horse who is a little banged up and maybe not going to be tiptop right out of the gate. We have guys on the team that have all the capability and also the health, which is very important right now.”

Kepler went on the 10-day injured list on Sept. 5 because of left patellar tendinitis. As he tried to ramp up, he felt pain in his hip, which he believes was the “origin of all the issues” and he overcompensated with his knee. Kepler said his hip injury might require surgery in the offseason.

In 105 games this season, Kepler hit .253 with eight homers and 42 RBI. His .682 OPS is the second-lowest mark in his big-league career.

“I could’ve shut it down completely and said, ‘Let’s do what’s necessary here for moving forward and my health,’ but I thought cortisone shots would help just to see if I can push out some more of my ability,” Kepler said. “At this moment, in all honestly, I think the guys on the roster have a better shot than me. If we do go further into the year, then hopefully I can help.”

Kepler, who signed with the Twins in 2009 out of Germany, is a free agent at the end of the season. It will be his first time in free agency after signing a six-year, $44 million extension with the Twins before the 2019 season.

“It’s not the way I’d like to go out as a Twin,” said Kepler, who ranks 12th in Twins history with 161 career homers and 16th with 1,072 games. “The game comes with a lot of unexpected adversity and challenges, and I’m proud of myself for what I’ve done as an individual, as a teammate, as a friend to everyone in this clubhouse.”

Kepler hopes to play at least five more years, he said, but he has admittedly thought about his hip injury ending his Twins career.

“I haven’t really decompressed and looked back on every moment as a Twin but I’m truly grateful and this is not really bothering [me] too much on my way out,” he said. “Obviously, I want to go out on a higher note, but I mean add the minor league years into it, 15 years of my life — half my life as a Twin — I don’t think I could have done much more as a kid from Berlin.”

Chris Paddack simulated pitching out of the bullpen Monday at Target Field, sitting in the bullpen, running onto the field and taking the ball with a little more than a minute to warm up on the mound.

After facing hitters — Kepler, Michael Helman and Austin Martin — for the first time since he went on the injured list in July, he plans to throw again Thursday.

“Hopefully all that stuff goes well, then that’s probably when I’ll sit down with Rocco [Baldelli] and staff to see where we’re at with standings,” Paddack said. “If we’re in, we clinch [during] the Baltimore series, then we’ll probably wait until that first series in the playoffs. If we’re one game [back], or if it’s tied and we need a win on Sunday, it’s probably all arms are going to be on deck, and they’ll make that decision when the time comes.”