When the Philadelphia Phillies acquired star shortstop Trea Turner in free agency with an eye-watering 11-year, $300 million deal, many marked the reigning National League champions as shoo-ins for another postseason run. The path forward is less clear now, however, as Turner continues to struggle on a Phillies team that is now 23-26 and fourth in the NL East.
MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki reported that Turner has been extremely critical of his start with his new team but is focusing on the way forward for himself and the team.
“I’m honest with myself, I’ve sucked. But every at-bat, every play, every game is another day to try to do better and try to be the player that I know I am. If you harp on yesterday or you harp on the last at-bat, it’s just going to snowball on you, you’re not going to be able to turn it around.”
While Turner’s .251 batting average through 47 games isn’t even close to the worst in baseball, it is also a far cry from the .298 average he earned for the Dodgers last year. With this cold start, he drops below .300 for his MLB career for the first time since his very early days with the Washington Nationals in 2015 and 2016.
“So I’m honest with myself. I tell myself straight, and I don’t lie to myself. I think I’m a positive guy,” Turner said. “I think I can always do better and can always be better. That’s the attitude I have, but at the same time, I know when I don’t do something right.”
Turner has not been the only issue plaguing Philadelphia this season, as Bryce Harper has been notably absent while many other hitters have taken a step back. Kyle Schwarber leads the team with 12 home runs despite a .170 average.
Meanwhile, the pitching staff has proven to be one of the worst in the league with a 4.54 cumulative ERA. Still, the team is only 6.5 games out of first place in the division and can shake things up in series against the Braves, Mets and Nationals over the next two weeks.
