Maximilian Kepler-Różycki (born February 10, 1993) is a German professional baseball outfielder for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2015, and Philadelphia Phillies. Before signing with the Twins, he played for Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg of the Baseball-Bundesliga. He bats and throws left-handed. He holds the record for home runs hit in a career by a German-born player.
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Early life
Kepler was born in Berlin, Germany. His parents, Kathy Kepler and Marek Różycki, were professional ballet dancers; they met when they performed in the same ballet company in Berlin. His mother is from San Antonio, Texas, while his father is from Poland. He has one sister, Emma Różycki, a former golf prodigy.
At the age of six, Kepler started playing baseball at the Little League level with the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. Though he received a scholarship at age seven to the Steffi Graf Tennis Foundation, he decided to choose baseball. Kepler attended John F. Kennedy School, and the St. Emmeram Academy in Regensburg in 2008, where he was able to train in baseball more than the average American teenager. He played association football with Hertha BSC, and played baseball for Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg of the Bundesliga, the highest baseball league in Germany.
Career
Minnesota Twins
Andy Johnson, an international scout working for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB), first noticed Kepler when he played in a junior national tournament at the age of 14. At 16, he signed with the Twins in 2009 for US$800,000, at the time the largest signing bonus given by an MLB franchise to a European-born player. Kepler made his American debut in the rookie level in 2010 Gulf Coast League (GCL) with the GCL Twins. He was promoted to the Elizabethton Twins of the Rookie-Advanced Appalachian League in 2011. He was assigned to Elizabethton for the 2012 season. An elbow injury delayed the start of Kepler's 2013 season, when he was assigned to the Cedar Rapids Kernels of the Single–A Midwest League. Following the regular season, the Twins assigned Kepler to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League.
After the 2013 season, the Twins added Kepler to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, and he was invited to spring training. Kepler played for the Fort Myers Miracle of the High–A Florida State League in 2014, and opened the 2015 season with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Double–A Southern League. Kepler was selected to represent the Twins at the 2015 All-Star Futures Game, though a sore left shoulder prevented him from playing. Kepler finished the 2015 season with a .327 batting average, nine home runs, and 18 stolen bases. He was named Southern League Player of the Year.
The Twins promoted Kepler to the major leagues on September 21, 2015. After Donald Lutz, Kepler is the second German-developed player to play in modern MLB. Kepler made his major league debut on September 27, 2015. He recorded his first hit on October 4, 2015, and for the season he had one single in seven at bats.
The Twins assigned Kepler to the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple–A International League to start the 2016 season. After playing in two games for Rochester, the Twins promoted him to the major leagues to replace the injured Danny Santana on April 10. Kepler was optioned to Rochester fifteen days later. On June 1, Kepler was recalled to replace the injured Miguel Sanó, and he began getting regular starts for the Twins in right field.
Kepler had his first multi-hit game on June 2 against the Tampa Bay Rays. His first Major League home run was a walk-off blast against Matt Barnes. He became the first European-born Major League player to hit three home runs in a game on August 1 against the Cleveland Indians. This also made him the fifth Twins player to hit three home runs in a game, along with Bob Allison, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Oliva, and Justin Morneau. Kepler was named co-American League Player of the Week on August 8, sharing the honors with Twins teammate Joe Mauer.
Philadelphia Phillies
On December 20, 2024, Kepler signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. Kepler made 127 appearances for Philadelphia during the 2025 campaign, batting .216/.300/.391 with 18 home runs and 52 RBI. He became a free agent again after the season.
Arizona Diamondbacks
On January 9, 2026, Kepler received an 80 game suspension from MLB as a result of testing positive for epitrenbolone, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of the Major League Baseball drug policy. On June 7, Kepler signed a one-year, major league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was activated for his season debut on June 25. Across 41 games for Arizona, Kepler batted .205/.262/.303 with two home runs and 15 RBI. On September 6, he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks.