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When glove failed, Trea Turner had milestone night at plate vs. Dodgers

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When glove failed, Trea Turner had milestone night at plate vs. Dodgers

PHILADELPHIA — There should have been champagne flowing, at least a beer shower, or perhaps a classy toast Monday night in Trea Turner’s historic game.

The Philadelphia Phillies shortstop hits two home runs for the 200th of his career. He hits a double for the 300th of his career. He produces three hits and drives in five runs.

He’s the hero in the Phillies’ 10-7 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers in perhaps a mid-October preview at Citizen Bank Park.

So, surrounded by a sea of reporters and camera crews in the clubhouse after the game, just what is the second question asked?

“What’s going on defensively?’’

Welcome to Philly, baby.

Turner was heavily booed by the crowd of 40,265 at Citizens Bank Park in the first inning when he booted a potential inning-ending grounder. He botched two more plays that could have easily been ruled errors instead of hits later in the game. And then got a Bronx cheer when he cleanly fielded Teoscar Hernandez’s ground ball and threw to first baseman Bryce Harper for the game’s final out.

What have you done for me lately?

“Obviously, Trey swung the bat really well,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “He didn’t catch it as well.”

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In a season in which Turner has struggled like never before, raising questions whether he’ll have to be moved from the shortstop position with seven years still remaining on his 11-year, $300 million contract, with Mattingly constantly questioned why Turner is still batting leadoff, and fans booing him, Turner had one of the greatest offensive games of his career.

Three hits. Two home runs. One double. Five RBI.

He joined Jose Altuve and Jose Ramirez as the only active players to have at least 300 doubles and 300 stolen bases.

He became the first Phillies player to hit multiple homers against the Dodgers at home since Maikel Franco in 2018.

And has 200 career home runs, opening his career as primarily a singles hitter with blazing speed, and now hitting at least 20 homers in four of his last five seasons.

“I don’t think early in my career anybody thought I would hit 200 homers,’’ Turner said. “So, it’s kind of cool from an evolution standpoint of where I was when I was younger, and what kind of hitter I was, to being able to do that at the highest level.

“So, pretty cool.’’

And yet, nearly the entire time he spoke afterwards it was to answer questions about his defense.

“Just a ridiculous game in general by me,’’ Turner said. “I’m just happy we got the win. Just roller-coaster, up, down, up, down. You know you do things like that or have games like that, and sometimes have just got to laugh about it.’’

So, Turner laughed, just like his teammates did, trying to make him relax during the game.

“If you can’t laugh at yourself, then you’re kind of done for,’’ Turner said. “So, yeah, it’s good.’’

Turner’s defensive deficiencies definitely aren’t from a lack of work, or preparation. He’ll be on the field taking ground balls six hours before game time. Yet, he has also made 15 errors after leading the league with 23 errors in 2023, with a negative-seven outs above average.

It’s not real comforting for Mattingly holding his breath every time a routine ball is hit to Turner, with the crowd erupting when routine plays are made, and moaning every time a ball is booted.

“Trea works every day,’’ Mattingly said. “So it’s not like Trea’s out there and doesn’t care about defense. Trea cares about his defense. He wants to make plays. … So as long as Trea works, we ride with Trea.’’

And sometimes, well, Mattingly and the coaches have to remind Turner, too, to let it go, making sure that one error doesn’t effect the next play, and that his whole game doesn’t unravel for everyone to see.

“He’s not bothered by what people say,’’ Mattingly said. “I don’t think it’s in Trea’s head. … He wants to make plays. He wants to win. And he wants to get better. And he knows he’s better than that.’’

Normally, when a player struggles offensively, the battle is to make sure he doesn’t take his frustrations onto the field, affecting his defense. In Turner’s case, he’s at least making sure he’s not letting his defensive blunders affect his hitting, at least not now.

He’s hitting .500 (8 for 16) since the All-Star break with four homers, two doubles and seven RBI. He entered the night slashing .311/.357/.509 with an .866 OPS in his last 26 games.

“As Trea goes, we go,’’ Mattingly said. “When Trea’s getting on base and doing his thing, it changes our club. Trea’s obviously swinging it good now.’’

He’s still striking out at a career-worst 22.7% clip, and his .246 batting average and .692 OPS pales in comparison to a year ago when he hit .304 with an .812 OPS.

But, after a mental respite during the All-Star break, he came back fresh, homering in three of the four games since the break.

He also has made an error in three of the four games.

“I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing, and build confidence in that,’’ Turner said, “and just kind of get in a rhythm. I feel like everyone talks about rhythm at the plate, but I think there’s rhythm on the basepaths, rhythm defensively.

“Sometimes you feel good. Sometimes you don’t. You just got to find that flow again.’’

And one day, who knows, maybe those ground balls will become routine again, and he won’t need two-homer, five-RBI nights to help erase that defensive pain.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X @Bnightengale.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When glove failed, Trea Turner had milestone night at plate vs. Dodgers

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