Trea Turner received a lot of attention in 2023, both during his midseason struggles and his strong performance in August. However, in 2024, Turner seems to have been overlooked at times.
This is not due to his performance. Turner has quietly been performing exceptionally well with much less drama.
In the first 20 games of the season, Turner, who has a battling title and a Silver Slugger Award, brought a career-best .350 average into Saturday's game against the Chicago White Sox. Even if his outstanding week is not sustainable, Turner has made significant improvements in the batter's box compared to last season, which has greatly contributed to the Phillies' current standing.
In his last six games, Turner has achieved a .520 batting average with five doubles, two home runs, three RBIs, and nine runs scored, recording an extra-base hit in each game.
In the 68 games since last year's Aug. 4 standing ovation, Turner's slash line has improved to .341/.393/.624 with an OPS of 1.015, compared to .236/.289/.367 before the ovation.
Turner's success this year can be attributed to his increased ability to hit the ball squarely and reduced tendency to chase after pitches.
During the struggles of 2023, Turner was chasing after a career-high 35.3% of pitches outside the strike zone, exceeding his previous high chase rates in 2016 and 2022.
With this figure now decreasing, Rob Thomson observes a series of cause-and-effect relationships leading to Turner becoming more selective at the plate.
Thomson remarked, "If you're chasing, it means you're committing early. He's not chasing, and he's not committing early. He's backing the ball up, so he sees the ball longer, which eliminates some chase. And he gets the ball on the barrel of the bat, so I think it all plays into it."
By waiting longer, Turner has been able to utilize all fields and receive better pitches to hit. His zone contact percentage has increased by 5 points, from a career-low 82.8 last year to a potential career-best 87.3. While he is swinging at a higher percentage of first pitches (43.7), his whiff rate has decreased by almost a third compared to last season (from 29.6% to 20.9%).
However, it's important to note that Turner's .350 average is his highest mark through 20 games.
The second highest was .321 at the start of 2016, a period during which he was chasing pitches frequently. In his first 20 games as a Phillie in 2023, his average was .314. From Game No. 21 to the standing ovation, spanning 88 games and nearly 400 plate appearances, Turner had only 28 extra-base hits and batted .217.
The hope is that this year's strong start is more sustainable.
Thomson commented, "When Trea is in a bad spot, he's usually running out of bat and he's smothering balls. So now he's backing the ball up, hitting the ball up in the air, and not chasing. That's a positive change. That's Trea."
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The recent performances of the Phillies' rotation are as follows:
Aaron Nola delivered 7.1 innings of one-run ball on Monday.
Ranger Suarez pitched a complete-game shutout on Tuesday.
Cristopher Sanchez pitched six innings without allowing an earned run on Wednesday.
Spencer Turnbull achieved seven innings of one-hit shutout ball on Friday.
This week, Phillies starters have maintained a 0.31 ERA until Zack Wheeler's performance on Saturday. A good week for Thomson, right?
“It’s quite impressive. It really is,” Thomson said. “I think I’ve been really impressed with not only Turnbull, but Sanchez has really thrown the ball well and Ranger has really thrown it well. It makes for a good problem to have.”
Wheeler pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, leaving after Korey Lee’s hit snuck through the infield, the first safety of the day for the White Sox. Wheeler didn’t allow a ball out of the infield for five innings, making it one run allowed in 36.1 innings for the starters this week. That’s a 0.25 ERA
The Phillies entered Saturday without giving up an extra-base hit in three games, something that has only occurred seven times in franchise history and not since 1982. Their WHIP through 20 games is the best in franchise history since 1900 at 1.026.
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Rob Thomson thought it was a matter of time with Nick Castellanos. He saw a long fly out and a lineout Friday night as progress in how the struggling outfielder was starting to get under the ball. Perhaps a night after Whit Merrifield got off the schneid, the last qualified hitter in MLB without an extra-base hit would follow suit Saturday against the at-best-Quad-A White Sox.
In the second inning, Castellanos delivered his first extra-base hit (and just 12th any-base hit) of the season, a triple off the top of the wall in right.
“I think he’s starting to loft some balls in the last week, and that’s always a good sign for me from power hitters,” a prescient Thomson had said. “And we just keep running him out there.”
Castellanos finished 3-for-3 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in two.
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NOTES >> Kyle Schwarber played his 1,000th game Saturday night. He’s one of three active players with 250 home runs in his first 1,000 games, joining Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. … Aaron Nola (2-1, 3.47 ERA) will take the mound in Sunday’s finale at 1:35. He’s opposed by Nick Nastrini (0-1, 3.60).
