The Phillies are 0-2 in the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and most of the fan ire is being directed at Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Rob Thomson. And deservedly so, because they’ve probably been the biggest culprits in the two losses.
But let’s not ignore Trea Turner’s contributions to the deficit. After a no-show in game one, Turner had two chances to be a hero in game two, and both times he came up small. But as anyone who was communicating with me during the game knows, that didn’t
surprise me. Turner has basically spent his entire Phillies career disappointing me to some degree.
When they signed Turner in December 2022, I approved of the move. The team had a gaping hole at shortstop, and Turner seemed like the most ideal – and best looking – of the big free agent shortstop class from that year. Like any sensible fan, I balked a bit at the length of the contract, but understood that it lowered the annual value, which would theoretically allow the Phillies to spend more money each year. (To their credit, the Phillies have lived up to that.)
We all remember his first season with the team, where he was hitting poorly until a standing ovation turned him around. On the surface, his second season was much better (.807 OPS) – or at least on offense. His defense had gotten worse and was bordering on being a liability.
Even offensively, his season wasn’t quite as good as it looked. Sure, there were those red-hot streaks when he seemed to hit a home run every night, but there were also long stretches when he couldn’t seem to buy a hit.
In 2025, he finally looked like the player we expected. The home run binges were gone, but serving as the leadoff man, he was getting on base consistently and won the batting title. But I never shook the feeling that if the game was on the line, he was not the guy I wanted to see at the plate.
Let’s talk about the playoffs, because that’s when heroes are really made. Prior to coming to the Phillies, his postseason performance was inconsistent. He had a few good series on his resume, but overall, his playoff numbers were underwhelming. He won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019, but his OPS of .620 during that run indicate that he wasn’t an integral part of it.
His Phillies postseason career actually started off well. Still in the throes of the ovation-fueled hot streak, Turner was on fire at the start of the 2022 playoffs. In the first ten games of the postseason, Turner was 17-37 with three home runs.
And then, something happened. After singling in the first inning of game four of the NLCS, Turner was picked off first base. This was shocking at the time, because Turner hadn’t been picked off or caught stealing all season. Perhaps it was coincidental, but after that pickoff, Turner didn’t get a base hit the rest of the series, going 0-14 the rest of the way, as the Phillies fell to the Diamondbacks.
The bad times have largely continued. Since the pickoff, Turner is 4-22 with no extra base hits in ten games. He’s walked four times to go against eleven strikeouts.
That brings us to last night, and Turner’s two opportunities for heroism. In the seventh, the Dodgers had runners on second and third with one out. Kike Hernandez hit a slow ball to shortstop with the runner headed home. Turner fielded it and threw home, but his throw was wide and allowed the runner to slide in safely.
Had the out been recorded, the Dodgers likely end the inning without scoring. Instead, they went on to score two more. Yes, it was a tough play. But making tough plays is the expectation when you’re considered one of the team’s stars! Postseason success is built on players making those kinds of plays. There’s a reason we still remember Chase Utley’s deke to first and throw home against the Rays.
Moving on, with the Phillies trailing 4-0, Turner came up in the eighth with a runner on third. And he finally delivered a single. Hooray! Not the most clutch hit ever, but maybe that’s something he can build on?
He got his chance to build on it the following inning. With two outs in the ninth, the tying run was on third and the winning run was at first. Turner had another opportunity to be a hero. How did that turn out?
I’m not completely writing Turner off. While he’s been bad in big spots thus far, I’ve written before that sometimes players are un-clutch right until they are. So maybe Turner can shake off these failures and go on to deliver some big postseason moves. The good – or bad, depending on how you look at it – news is that he’s eight more years under contract to do so.
