Stock Watch: Confident Kepler on rise

Growing up in Germany, Max Kepler had a choice between playing soccer and baseball. Most of his countrymen chose the former above all else. Kepler decided to go the other way.

Since arriving stateside, the Twins' prospect has had a similar approach at the plate. It worked pretty well for him, too, as he hit .264 in 102 games with Class A Advanced Fort Myers last year.

But the 22-year-old -- the son of ballet dancers, including a Texan mother -- has expanded his game this season. Rapidly, the 6-foot-4 outfielder and first baseman has blossomed from a prospect project to a complete hitter having his way with Double-A.

You don't need a Technische Universität Berlin engineering degree to see just how good Kepler has been with Double-A Chattanooga this year. In 64 games, he's batting .336 with a .940 OPS. He's ripped three homers, eight triples and 22 doubles. He's walked nearly as often as he's struck out. And in June, he's done all those things even better, batting .364 with a 1.052 OPS.

According to Lookouts hitting coach Chad Allen, the difference is that the left-handed hitter has expanded his approach to include more assertiveness, particularly when it comes to pulling the ball.

"When he first got here, Max was a guy who mainly tried to hit to left-center field," Allen said. "That's a good thing for a young kid, but we got him to also be more aggressive, between me and [manager Doug] Mientkiewicz. Get him to be more aggressive to right-center and right field."

You can see the difference in Kepler's approach on the heat maps below, taken from MLBFarm.com. On the left are the batted balls from Kepler's 2014 campaign in Fort Myers. This year's results at Chattanooga are on the right.

Kepler has just three home runs, but having added 10-15 pounds in the few years, he already has the power to drive the ball out of the park. His line drive swing doesn't always result in home run loft, but as you can see below, he can still get plenty behind the ball to drive it out of the park.

Kepler gave the approach a try early in the season, and after hitting .359 in May, he fully bought into the more aggressive approach. The results have driven his confidence, which has soared on and off the field in the years since he arrived from Germany.

"He was a very shy kid. He didn't know a lot of people coming from Germany," Allen said. "He's now a kid who runs around with his teammates. Everybody hangs around Max. He's a good kid, outgoing. I think he's gotten used to the fact of being around teammates more and gotten more comfortable with the game itself."

The 22-year-old Berlin native has also made dramatic improvements with his platoon splits. After the 2013 season, the Twins wanted to see Kepler improve against same-side arms after he hit just .117 against lefties in Cedar Rapids. Kepler balanced his platoon splits last year, posting a .691 OPS against lefties compared to a .735 OPS versus righties.

This year, Kepler has a .910 OPS against lefties and a .990 OPS against righties. He's mashing regardless of which side the ball comes from.

"He's staying in there and letting the ball travel longer," Allen said. "That kind of goes back to his process of going to left-center. That's allowed him to hit lefties better. At the same time, now against lefties, he's still using the left-center part of the field, but also he's being aggressive to right-center, so if they do throw a fastball, he can turn and burn it."

On top of all that, Kepler has become a versatile and valuable piece defensively. Per Allen, his best position is in either outfield corner, where he gets the most out of his average speed and arm with strong reads and an ability to make plays on the ball. He's played more first base than outfield this year, but while he's a solid defender on the dirt, Allen said Kepler has only played so much first this year because of team necessity.

"He's a really good outfielder," Allen said. "He can play first base, don't get me wrong. But he's really good in right field and left field and he can also go out and play center field 2-3 times a week."

Two hot...

Twins RHP Jose Berrios, Triple-A Rochester: The 6-foot righty received a promotion Monday after a dominant stint with Chattanooga to open the season. Berrios went 8-3 with a 3.08 ERA, striking out more than a batter per inning with the Lookouts. The 21-year-old can run his fastball into the upper 90s, features a solid assortment of off-speed stuff and the ability to command it all. On top of that, Berrios has made huge strides corraling his plus-plus competitive fire, showing some ability to moderate his effort level throughout a game. That's allowed him to work seven-plus innings four times this year, despite his pitch count.

Nationals OF Victor Robles, Rookie-level GCL Nationals: Debuts don't get much better than what the 18-year-old Dominican has done in Florida over the past week. Robles went 13-for-25 in his first eight stateside games, cranking a pair of home runs and contributing five multi-hit efforts. He's also stolen three bases, no surprise considering he's touted as an athletic center fielder who should hit and might hit for some power. Robles' U.S. arrival was among the most anticipated of this year's GCL youngsters after he obliterated the Dominican Summer League with a .313 average, .891 OPS and 22 stolen bases in 47 games last year. You don't want to draw too much from such a small sample, but it can only be a good thing that Robles is off to such a strong start.

...And one not

Orioles RHP Dylan Bundy, Double-A Bowie: The injury bug has bitten Bundy again. After undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2013, Bundy appeared on his way back to the Majors this year until a recent bout with shoulder inflammation. The cause is a calcium buildup in his pitching shoulder, and it appears likely to keep him out for the rest of the 2015 season. That's a major downer for Bundy and O's fans, since the 21-year-old appeared to have turned a corner in his recover from Tommy John this spring. Bundy was up to 95 mph in the Grapefruit League and was showing improved command. Bundy pitched well in short stints in April but scuffled some in May and hasn't thrown since May 21. Now Baltimore is staring down a major quandry next spring, as the team burned its final option for Bundy this year. That means if the Orioles can't find a spot on the 25-man roster for Bundy next season, the Oklahoma native would be exposed to waivers and likely get picked up by another team.