Who is Afraid of Max Kepler?

It's Game 7 of the World Series. Bottom of the ninth. You've gotten two outs, but the bases are loaded. You're up by one. A base hit is going to score the game-winning run and you're always going to be remembered as the guy who let a whole city down if you allow it. You wipe the sweat from your brow. Take a deep breath. Now think about who the last guy you'd want to see coming up to the dish.

That's the question The Athletic recently asked 64 anonymous MLB players. Interestingly enough, Juan Soto won the vote, receiving 10 nominations. Shohei Ohtani wasn't far behind (9), while Aaron Judge (6) and others followed, including Bryce Harper (3).

But some interesting guys received one vote. Among them, Ronald Acuna Jr., Jose Altuve, Manny Machado, Kyle Tucker, and...

Max Kepler?

Yep, there's an MLB pitcher that goes to bed at night trembling, shaking, fighting with his sheets at the thought of having to face Max Kepler in a big moment. Kepler - a .236 career hitter - is hitting .210 this year, and you wouldn't think he exactly strikes fear into anyone. But there's clearly one guy he does. So, I went on a little adventure to find out who that could be.

The survey was conducted from late February to early May by The Athletic, and they only asked pitchers - naturally. Before joining the Phillies this season, Kepler played a decade with the Minnesota Twins, of the American League Central division, so it's safe to assume our guy likely comes one of those four other teams - the Guardians, Royals, Tigers, or the White Sox.

The pitcher Kepler hit best against throughout his whole career was Ubaldo Jimenez - who he was 4-7 against lifetime, with a 2.196 OPS. There's just one slight problem with that - Jimenez and Kepler never played in the AL Central together and Jimenez retired 8 years ago. Moving on...

Kepler has also hit well against active pitchers Buck Farmer, Burch Smith, Dylan Covey (Phillies legend), and Jake Irvin. But, I don't think any of those guys fit the bill.

Sure, he's homered three times each off of Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease, and Mike Clevinger, but I don't think it's them.

I added the stipulations that the bases are loaded, but I think regardless, you don't want this guy getting on base. The question the pitchers were given also never said the score of the game - so I think their responses were just players they feel have their number.

If I were a betting man, my money would be on Brad Keller to be deathly afraid of the John F. Kennedy School (Berlin, Germany) graduate.

Keller is on the Cubs now, but he played for the Twins' division rival Royals from 2018-2023, and played half a season with the White Sox a year ago. Earlier this week, in the Cubs-Phillies series, Cubs manager Craig Counsell pulled Keller from the game, just as Max Kepler was due up.

That's because Kepler is 9-25 (.360) lifetime against him, with two home runs, a double, and seven walks. Keller is shaking in his cleats every time Kepler comes up, evidenced by a 1.140 OPS. The seven walks are the most Kepler has ever been walked by a single pitcher - active or retired.

It's coincidental The Athletic releases the results of this survey today, just a day after I released the latest video on the Barreldelphia YouTube channel: Why does MLB Hate Zack Wheeler?

In the opening, I pose the question: If you could give the ball to one starting pitcher right now in a "must-win" game, who are you taking?

It's not too different from the question at hand here, except, of course, the other way around. So, who would you take? For me, it's obviously Zack Wheeler. Since 2021, he's been the best pitcher in the game and has proven time and time again he's the best active big game pitcher. It's a no brainer for me. Check out the video for more about Wheeler's career and the immense, unwarranted disrespect he's received:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA8fVH7sbW0