PHILADELPHIA -- Max Kepler had surgery in Philadelphia on Oct. 2 to repair a partially detached abdominal muscle that had bothered him since the summer.

He recovered in a hospital room, which featured a view of Citizens Bank Park in the distance. Kepler said Thursday that he thought about attending Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Phillies and Mets on Oct. 6, but still medicated and unable to walk, he watched on TV instead.

¡°It wasn¡¯t the right place at the right time, but you could definitely feel the energy even though you weren¡¯t even there,¡± he said.

Kepler hopes to be playing left field at the Bank this October. He signed a one-year, $10 million contract with the Phillies late last month.

They said he will be their everyday left fielder.

¡°I feel I¡¯d say 100 percent,¡± Kepler said. ¡°I¡¯m doing everything. I¡¯m swinging, hitting, running, throwing. Pain free.¡±

Kepler discussed several topics on Thursday:

Why he chose Philadelphia
¡°To be honest, I just wanted to go to a team that was capable of winning and capable of going all the way into November,¡± he said. ¡°And the Phillies have been a team that I¡¯ve really looked to. Not just when we played against them, but also when they¡¯re playing top-tier teams, the way they carry themselves. There¡¯s a bunch of ballers on that team that I think I would learn from and just enjoy watching work.¡±

His health
Kepler noticed in the summer he wasn¡¯t hitting the ball as hard as he had in the past. He couldn¡¯t figure out why. Mechanical adjustments didn¡¯t help, either.

¡°I was trying to figure out why my whole hitting system was dipping,¡± he said.

Kepler dove for a ball in July and immediately felt pain in his left hip. Then his left knee started to bother him. He tried to play through the pain before he told the team in September that he could not continue.

Kepler called his October surgery ¡°bilateral core repair.¡±

Kepler batted .253 with eight homers, 42 RBIs and a .682 OPS last season with the Twins. It was the second-lowest OPS of his career. If Kepler is healthy, he believes he will return to form offensively. From 2019-23, he batted .238 with 97 homers, 276 RBIs, a .770 OPS and a 110 OPS+.

That would work in the bottom half of the Phillies¡¯ lineup.

Power
Kepler hit a career-high 36 homers in 2019, but he has not hit more than 24 in a season since.

¡°If I¡¯m healthy, I¡¯m fine,¡± he said. ¡°When health isn¡¯t an issue, then to me, the game is all mental. Finding a groove and riding that wave as long as I can has always been a project. You have to just keep making adjustments.¡±

Kepler plans to visit Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long in Arizona before Spring Training opens in mid-February.

¡°Hopefully we¡¯ll be able to hone in on some things before camp starts,¡± Kepler said.

Hitting lefties
In his career, Kepler has a .778 OPS against righties and a .655 OPS against lefties.

The Phillies think he can hit both.

¡°I don¡¯t view myself as someone who struggles against lefties,¡± Kepler said. ¡°It varies. It depends on the year. There¡¯s been obviously a couple years in my career when I struggled against lefties. But it¡¯s not like I struggled every single year. ¡­ I think once a lefty [batter] routinely, consistently sees a lefty [pitcher], just like righties get to see righties, it comes easier. I hope I get the consistency to show and prove that I can lefties because I¡¯m certain I can hit lefties.¡±

Left field
Kepler has played 1,034 games in the outfield in his big league career, including 927 in right field.

He hasn¡¯t played left since 2015 with Double-A Chattanooga.

¡°I¡¯m going to Clearwater [Fla.] early,¡± Kepler said. ¡°I¡¯m going to be out in left as soon as I can get there. Even now out here in Los Angeles, I¡¯ll be tracking as soon as I can get on the field. I¡¯m excited for it all. ¡­ I¡¯m obviously a corner guy and I¡¯m very easily adjustable. I¡¯m not worried about the transition from right to left.¡±

The new kid
Kepler has spent his entire career with Minnesota, signing as an amateur free agent in 2009.

¡°I¡¯m excited, a little nervous,¡± he said. ¡°Also, I¡¯d say, anxious just to walk into a room, almost like on the first day of school where I don¡¯t know too many faces. ¡­ I think I¡¯m going to have to open up more as a person and be more outgoing just to put myself out there. Because I do really want to build relationships. That¡¯s necessary.¡±