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Trea Turner spent the early part of his career becoming one of the best and most dynamic shortstops in the MLB. He parlayed his excellent play into a massive contract that he inked last off-season, but we’ve seen him regress dramatically in just the first year of that new deal.
Trea Turner Has Struggled All Season Long
Trea Turner was ELITE five straight seasons plus a WBC run and soon as he signed with the Phillies he turned into a lemon. 🤣
— Gary Sheffield Jr. (@GarysheffieldJr) August 3, 2023
2020 and 2021 were the best years for Turner. He became an MVP candidate, leading the National League in hits in both seasons and finishing at the top in batting average, total bases, and stolen bases in 2021. But that was the season that he was subsequently traded, as the Washington Nationals sold off some of their big name pieces, and Turner wound up in Los Angeles with the Dodgers.
He continued his solid play in his new home, winning the Silver Slugger award in 2022 while also garnering a handful of MVP votes. Since he had become a starter in 2018, there were only 7 major league players that had a better Wins Above Replacement mark than Trea Turner.
The 29-year-old was at the top of his game, and was looking for a big, new contract entering free agency. He got it, by way of the Philadelphia Phillies, who signed him to an 11-year, $300 million contract this past off-season. There were high hopes for the pairing not only in the short term, but the long term as well.
Phillies Have Surged Despite Turner’s Struggles
“Obviously I’m the reason why we lost that game.”
A brutally honest Trea Turner after an all-around tough night. pic.twitter.com/7qAXyQ6Jw2
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 3, 2023
Things have gotten off to a terrible start for Turner. As of August 2nd, he leads the league in at-bats, as he often does. But his production is putrid compared to previous seasons, as he is hitting just .237 and has driven in a total of 34 runs in his 477 plate appearances thus far.
The batting average is by far the lowest mark of Turner’s career since becoming a starter, as he is typically a .300+ hitter over the span of his career. The on-base percentage that hovered around .385 during his MVP-caliber seasons has plummeted all the way down to .291.
game winning out right passed a dude getting paid 300 million.
Trea Turner also 0-5 from the plate.
pic.twitter.com/nZ0xWrpyAb
— Gavin McHugh (@gavinmchughh) August 3, 2023
The Phillies are in contention despite Turner’s struggles. At the beginning of June, they were 7 games under .500 and the season looked to be slipping away. But they’ve gotten hot as the summer months have rolled along, and they are now 59-50 and in possession of one of the three wild card spots in the National League.
There are currently 6 teams battling for the three postseason slots, with the Phillies being one of them. Seeing a late-season turnaround from Trea Turner would certainly help their chances of qualifying for the playoffs, where they’d need him to step up as well.
