Max Kepler is one of the top prospects in baseball, and has done well in the majors for the Minnesota Twins in 2016. Should fantasy owners now give him a closer look off the waiver wire?
Even though the Minnesota Twins are in the middle of a rough season, they do have a solid, and young offensive core. One of the most important pillars of that core, is 23-year-old stud prospect, Max Kepler. Kepler has predictably hit some bumps in the road during his rookie season, but he has been great as of late, and fantasy owners should start to take notice.
Max Kepler was signed by the Twins in 2009 as an amateur free agent out of Germany. With MLB rarely getting any European imports, there has always been an intrigue that surrounded Kepler and his skill. All Kepler has done though in the minors, is solidify his rank as one of the top prospects in all of baseball, and showcase the dynamic skillset that he has been lauded for.
In 2015, Kepler had a stellar minor league campaign, and posted a, .318/9 HR/71 RBI/19 SB/.930 OPS, line. With Kepler only still in his early-20s, his ceiling continues to get higher as he continues to hone his game. So far in the majors this season, Kepler has a, .254/5 HR/22 RBI/2 SB/.805 OPS line. His seasonal line may not blow you away, but he has gotten better as the season has progressed and is currently on fire at the plate.
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Things really turned for Kepler on June 14th, which is where he would start a 9 game hit streak. He raised his AVG by over 60 points during that stretch, and started to show consistency. He is now in the midst of another six game hit streak, meaning that out of the last 17 games he has played in, he has notched at least one base hit in 15 of those contests.
Kepler made even more noise on July 2nd, when he homered twice and drove in seven RBI against the Rangers. All arrows seem to be pointing up, and with Twins seemingly committing to him in right field on an every day basis now even with Miguel Sano back in the fold, fantasy owners should be interested now more than ever.
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Kepler still has to improve versus lefties, like most youngsters have to, but he has batted .274 versus righties this season. The Twins lineup has been better as of late as well, so his counting stat opportunities should be plentiful moving forward. Make Max Kepler a waiver wire priority as he is hot as of late and serves as an upside add for the second half of the season.