Max Kepler Says Philly Atmosphere Will Give Him 'Raw Energy and Adrenaline'

Happy Friday! Before you shift fully into Eagles mode for the weekend, we have Phillies and Flyers updates for you in today’s send.

In addition—you may find this hard to believe—James Franklin’s Nittany Lions fell short in a big game.

Let’s jump right in.

In the email today:

• 💪 Max Kepler Says Philly Atmosphere Will Give Him 'Raw Energy and Adrenaline'

• ⭐️ Stars Spoil Snider Legacy Night, Smoke Flyers

• ☘️ Penn State Shaken By the Echoes, Beaten By Irish in Orange Bowl

  • 📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

  • 📊 Poll

  • 🔗 Links

  • 📺 Coming Up

Time will tell whether outfielder Max Kepler will find success with the Phillies. But speaking to reporters on Thursday, he passed an early test: saying the right things about playing in Philadelphia.

“The atmosphere [in Philadelphia] compared to Minnesota is a very strong contrast," Kepler said. "It supplies me with raw energy and adrenaline to step on that field again."

Kepler was in Philly for surgery in October the night of a Phillies NLDS game with the Mets. He wanted to go to the game, but said he was “a little drugged up” and “kind of in and out trying to recover from the surgery.” So he watched the matchup on television instead.

But Kepler said he could feel the energy, even just through the TV.

Over on the website, Anthony has a full report of Kepler’s remarks. Some highlights:

• Kepler said he’s feeling 100%.

• The outfielder will go to Clearwater early to start working with Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long.

• Kepler is excited to play for a contender and has long admired the Phils: “The Phillies the last [few] years are a team I really looked at, 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 can learn from and just enjoy watching work. But the main reason is to win a championship and I think that team has everything.”

• Despite a career .655/.778 career platoon OPS split, the lefty said he doesn’t view himself as someone who struggles against LHP. “There's been, obviously, a couple years in my career where I struggled against lefties. But it's not like I struggled every single year.”

The Phils expect Kepler to be their everyday left fielder in 2025.

All of Philadelphia’s major league sports teams lean into their histories. Banners in the Wells Fargo Center. Flags in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park. Placards above the second deck at the Linc.

But no team in Philadelphia leans harder or more reliably on its legacy than the Flyers. Near the top of the list of Flyers’ love for their own history is the annual Snider Legacy Game.

A number of past Flyers luminaries were on hand.

Unfortunately, the ceremonial puck drop was the essentially the highlight of the night. The Flyers were down two after one period and three after two.

Morgan Frost cut the lead to one with the Flyers’ only tally of the night.

But the Flyers never got closer. Netminder Sam Ersson was pulled with 4:32 left. The Stars took advantage soon after, leading to the 4-1 final in a dispiriting loss for the Orange and Black on an otherwise upbeat night.

The Flyers are back at it against the Ducks Saturday night on home ice.

You can look at James Franklin’s atrocious big-game record two ways.

The prevailing narrative going into last night’s NCAA semifinal in the Orange Bowl against Notre Dame is that Franklin couldn’t win the big one.

There’s some truth to the other side of that coin, though, which is this: Everybody chokes. The battle is getting back into contention enough times to put the chokes in the past.

Penn State and Notre Dame played a sleepy first half that turned into an ESPN Instant Classic in the second half. In the end, though, Franklin and Penn State couldn’t change who they…

…wait for it…

ARE.

Penn State fans can’t even rationally cry about the whistle in this game. Notre Dame was about to take a scoring chance away from the Nittany Lions when this play was called pass interference (on a wounded duck from PSU quarterback Drew Allar).

So arguably, it should never have come down to the last two minutes. But it did, and in the immortal words of Rasheed Wallace, ball don’t lie.

Allar was bailed out by the officials once. He wasn’t so lucky the second time.

This was the best Penn State team in many a year. It was a good season.

But there’s no getting around the fact that James Franklin’s Nittany Lions:

• Led 10-0 in the second quarter.

• Led 24-17 in the fourth quarter.

• Had two consensus first round NFL Draft picks (Tyler Warren, Abdul Carter) on the field all night.

And lost.

It’s going to be a long winter in State College. Then again, aren’t they all?

📆 This Day in Philly Sports History

On January 10, 1993, Reggie White played his final game as a Philadelphia Eagle. The Birds lost to the Cowboys, 34-10, but White recorded a sack on Troy Aikman.

Dallas would go on to destroy the Bills in the Super Bowl that year, 52-17.

📊 Poll

Results from yesterday:

🔗 Links

• 🐏 The NFL has moved the Rams/Vikings game to Arizona due to the ongoing Southern California wildfires.

• 🍑 Georgia QB Carson Beck is out of the NFL Draft and into the transfer portal.

• 🙄 Joel Embiid is out again for the Sixers against the Pelicans tomorrow night.

• ⛳️ A Bryson DeChambeau fan won $100K by making a hole in one over the LIV Golf star’s house.

• 🏈 Josh Allen hopes the Buffalo Bills can keep offensive coordinator Joe Brady.

📺 Coming Up

Friday, January 10, 2025

• Sixers vs. Pelicans, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Saturday, January 11, 2025

• Flyers vs. Ducks, 7:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Sunday, January 12, 2025

• Eagles vs. Packers, 4:30 p.m. (FOX)

• Sixers at Magic, 6:00 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia)

Thanks for reading. See you Monday.

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