It does not appear to be sunny in Philadelphia for a certain $300 million shortstop.
After Trea Turner signed an 11-year deal prior to the 2023 season and put forth a Herculean effort at the World Baseball Classic for Team USA, expectations were sky-high for the new Phillies shortstop, who was expected to help lead the team’s chase for a second straight National League pennant.
But in the bottom of the eleventh inning during Wednesday’s game against the Marlins, Turner flubbed what should’ve been a routine ground ball from newly acquired Marlin Josh Bell that slipped into the outfield for a single, tying the game at 8.
Miami won the game just one inning later on a bloop single from Jesus Sanchez, putting the spotlight on Turner’s misplay, which came with two outs.
“Pretty disappointed, obviously I’m the reason why we lost that game, so just frustrated, but I only know one thing and that’s just keep working,” Turner told reporters after the game.
“Make that play and the game’s over. [It’s a] play you gotta make,” the shortstop added.
Thursday wasn’t any kinder to Turner, who was dropped to the No. 8 hole in the batting order and went 0-for-3 in a Phillies 4-2 win against Johnny Cueto and the Marlins.
Turner, 30, is hitting just .237/.291/.370 with 10 homers for an 81 OPS+ and is on pace for the worst full season of his MLB career.
The shortstop had previously received MVP consideration for three straight years with both the Nationals and Dodgers.
He owns a career .821 OPS and 251 stolen bases over nine seasons.
Philadelphia, 59-50, sits in second place in the NL East and is in possession of the second wild card spot.
The Phillies heated up over June and July, posting a .692 and .560 winning percentage over those two months, respectively.
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