Mar 31, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies fans cheer during at bat by shortstop Trea Turner (7) against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
Tuesday's 7-6 Phillies win over the Washington Nationals had the full Trea Turner experience.
In the top of the eighth inning, José Alvarado had runners on the corners with no one out and the Phillies clinging to a 3-2 lead lead. He induced a ground ball to shortstop. Turner, playing in, fielded it and initially looked like he was going to allow the run to score and try to turn a 6-3 double play.
Instead, he took a step back, but changed his mind before stepping on second and fired it home to try to prevent the tying run from scoring. He did keep Amed Rosario at third base, but made an errant throw that the Phillies were lucky J.T. Realmuto caught. They wound up with zero outs on the play, and Alvarado having to work his way out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam.
Alvarado did just that, but it doesn't erase what was an inexplicable play by Turner that set the Nationals up for a potentially big inning.
To be fair, Turner made a tremendous play in the top of the third inning to rob Jacob Young of a hit. Defensive metrics are divided on his work this season. He entered the night with one out above average, after posting minus-8 OAA across his first two seasons in red pinstripes. But he also now has four errors and minus-four outs above average. After some early positive signs, Turner's made more frequent errors (whether they've been scored that way or otherwise) the last couple weeks.
Still, Turner is an immensely valuable player when he's hitting like he was Tuesday. With three singles already on his resume for the night, Turner crushed an RBI double to right field in the bottom of the eighth that would have been a triple if third-base coach Dusty Wathan had not unsuccessfully tried to put up a late stop sign to Johan Rojas:
Trea Turner has four hits tonight! 🔥pic.twitter.com/F9R3sPoU6l
But then again in the top of the ninth inning, Turner was hit a routine ground ball by Rosario, which should have been the second out of the inning. Instead, he threw high and Bryce Harper wasn't able to clean it up in time. Orion Kerkering — on for the save — struck out Keibert Ruiz for what should have been the final out of the game, but instead was just the second out of the ninth. And with an extra out to work with, the Nationals made the Phillies pay for Turner's mistake when Nathaniel Lowe hit a towering go-ahead three-run home run:
BANK ERROR IN YOUR FAVOR 💸 pic.twitter.com/0Tu8qxmTAW
"I probably should have honestly threw it harder," Turner said about his ninth-inning error. "Kind of just secured the ball and tried to make an easy throw because I knew I had some time. I probably should have just thrown it harder and let it rip more ... probably would have made a better throw."
Turner came up with a chance to walk things off in the bottom of the ninth inning, but a wild pitch from Kyle Finnegan allowed Bryson Stott to score the game-winning run.
This league. pic.twitter.com/T6ErcTXjrj
The final innings of the game were played at a breakneck speed, and Turner was arguably the star of the show.
"I was right in the middle of it," Turner said of the chaotic finish to Tuesday's game. "I put the team in a bad spot right there, but the boys picked me up and had some good ABs and pulled it out. It's a good team win."
Trea Turner on the crazy ending to tonight’s game
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/javfsSRWJn
Even with a win, though, questions remain.
Turner has unquestionably worked diligently to improve his defense after struggling in the field his first two years with the Phillies. Is it frustrating to him that he can put in hard work, see some positive results but then have miscues come in bunches?
"Of course," Turner acknowledged. "You know I played some good defense early in this game. I made some good plays and then having it happen at the end of the game is definitely tough, especially in the big situation like that."
Turner had four hits Tuesday. Those type of offensive performances maybe haven't happened as frequently as the Phillies had hoped early in his 11-year/$300 million deal, but he's still unquestionably been a valuable offensive piece. The misplays in the field, though, have arguably come to define his tenure in Philadelphia so far. And Turner knows he needs to get better results in that regard.
"Them coming back, maybe wouldn't have thought about it if they don't score any runs right there, but obviously it feels like it's on me when that happens," Turner added. "So, like I said, just gotta clean it up."
Trea Turner on his frustration level when he works hard to improve defensively but can see miscues come in waves at times
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/ucDScQHCfR
