Phillies’ Trea Turner making rapid progress towards injury return

The Phillies signed Turner to a massive 11-year, $300 million contract in December 2022, expecting him to hold down the fort at shortstop for the long haul. However, his debut campaign in 2023 did not go according to plan.

Turner certainly wasn’t bad last season, but he wasn’t great, slashing .266/.320/.459 with 26 home runs, 35 doubles and 76 RBI. He also stole 30 bases. While his bat was decent, it wasn’t as good as previous years, and he also wasn’t very good in the field, posting a -2.5 UZR/150 and a DRS of minus-12.

That came after Turner slashed .298/.343/466 with 21 long balls, 39 doubles and 100 RBI with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2022. Two seasons before that, Turner won the NL batting title with a .328 average and rattled off a .911 OPS as a member of the Washington Nationals. Plus, he led the National League with 32 stolen bases.

The 30-year-old has certainly gotten off to a stronger start in 2024, slashing .343/.392/.460 with a couple of dingers, 10 doubles and nine RBI across 148 plate appearances. Whether or not he actually maintains it is another story, however.

Turner’s BABIP is a ridiculous .421, indicating that he has been very lucky thus far. He does historically posts high BABIPs with a career mark of .342 (league average is around .290), but obviously, his BABIP is abnormally high this season. That means Turner is probably due for some regression.

The Boynton Beach, Fl. native initially broke into the big leagues with the Nationals back in 2015. He spent six-and-a-half seasons in Washington, helping the club win a World Series in 2019. The Nats then traded him to the Dodgers midway through the 2021 campaign, when he made his first All-Star team. He then earned a second straight All-Star nod with Los Angeles in 2022 before signing with Philadelphia.

Turner owns a career slash line of .298/.351/.482.

The Phillies possess one of the best offenses in baseball, as they rank third in batting average, third in OPS, sixth in homers and second in runs scored.

Following their four-game set with the Mets, the Phils will host Washington for three games. Philadelphia is aiming to make its third straight playoff appearance after having missed the playoffs 10 straight years between 2012 and 2021.