Following the acquisition of center fielder Harrison Bader at the trade deadline, questions swirled about what the Philadelphia Phillies outfield configuration would look like. Now we have an answer, and Phillies fans aren’t thrilled that a $10 million free agent mistake is still on the roster.
According to multiple reports, the Phillies have optioned center fielder Johan Rojas to Triple-A to make room for Bader. Rojas posted a .569 OPS, 58 OPS+ and just one home run in 172 plate appearances while platooning in center with Brandon Marsh.
Johan Rojas and Daniel Robert will be optioned to triple A as the countermoves for Harrison Bader and Jhoan Duran.
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) August 1, 2025
While Rojas was sent down, the Phillies decided to stick with outfielder Max Kepler, who they signed to a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason. Kepler has been a failure, slashing just .203/.297/.357 with a mediocre 80 OPS+ and 11 home runs. The veteran also complained publicly that he was misled about being told he would be the team’s everyday left fielder. The left-handed hitting Kepler has been sitting against southpaws this season and mainly starts against righties.
Despite his struggles, Kepler is in Friday night’s lineup against the Detroit Tigers while Bader is on the bench.
Max Kepler is starting in Left Field tonight. pic.twitter.com/Yfmm6NHBSH
— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) August 1, 2025
After trading for Bader, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was asked about Kepler’s future with the team.
“He’s playing in left field for us at this time,” Dombrowski told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber on Thursday night. “He’s actually been swinging the bat a little bit better, particularly vs. right-handed pitching. But he’s part of our roster at this time.”
Even though Kepler remains on the team, his tenure might be short-lived if and when the Phillies call up top outfield prospect Justin Crawford, who has posted a .325 average and .836 OPS in 83 Triple-A games this season.
“We could bring him up,” Dombrowski noted. “If we do bring him up, he needs to play a lot. I’m not sure that we’re in a position to do that at this point today. But he’s not somebody that we would hesitate to bring up if we decide that’s the right thing to do.”
Once Crawford is ready for his big league call-up, it only makes sense that the Phillies cut ties with their costly mistake in Kepler.
As for Bader, he provides the right-handed bat the Phillies desperately needed to balance a lefty-heavy lineup. In 96 games with the Minnesota Twins, he slashed .258/.339/.439 with 12 home runs and a 111 OPS+. He also brings excellent defense to the table.
