This has been a difficult week in a difficult season for Trea Turner, the $300 million shortstop of the Philadelphia Phillies. Turner went 1 for 16 in a crucial four-game series against the Miami Marlins and made a costly defensive misplay in Wednesday’s extra innings loss. “Obviously, I’m the reason why we lost that game,” Turner told MLB.com afterward.
Philadelphia sports fans can be hard — very hard — on their underperforming players, but rather than shower Turner with boos when the Phillies opened a homestand against the Kansas City Royals on Friday, fans encouraged him with a standing ovation. Turner has not played well this year, he’s the first to admit it, though he has been accountable throughout. Fans appreciate that.
On Saturday, Turner rewarded the fans who’ve supported him with a clutch go-ahead three-run home run against lefty Angel Zerpa that turned a 6-5 deficit into an 8-6 lead in the sixth inning. He plated an insurance run with a booming double in the ninth inning as well. The Phillies went on to win Saturday’s game 9-6 (box score). Here is Turner’s signature moment as a Phillie:
Excluding his four leadoff homers, Saturday’s blast was Turner’s first go-ahead home run with the Phillies and his first homer with multiple runners on base. It also snapped a 21-game home run drought dating back to July 8, the Saturday before the All-Star break. The 21-game drought was Turner’s longest of the season and his longest since a 26-gamer last May and June.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson dropped Turner to eighth in the lineup this weekend. He went 2 for 4 with the double and the home run in Saturday’s win and is hitting .238/.291/.377 on the season overall. He’s also been uncharacteristically mistake-prone on defense, especially lately. Turner is a 0.9 WAR player 111 games into Year 1 of his 11-year contract.
Saturday’s win improved the Phillies to 60-51 on the season. They currently sit in the second wild-card spot and are two games up on a postseason berth in general.
