The Phillies, during the offseason, gave Trea Turner $300 million to become the team’s shortstop.
This has not necessarily yielded the expected results so far.
In effect, the player is completely unable to place the ball in a safe place with runners in position to score. He did it recently for the first time in… a month.
That means he has fewer home runs (4-for-5) and as many RBIs (11) in 46 games at Philly as he has in six games at the World Classic.
Ouch.
At least he’s the first to admit it: he knows he’s been playing very badly since the start of the season. He blames himself and he is working hard to remedy the situation.
Whoever is on pace with about 40 RBIs is a far cry from last year’s 100. His average of .251 is low and his OPS+ of 87 makes him a 13% underperforming hitter.
That’s not good for a $300 million guy.
Obviously, we know that a player who changes teams must always adapt. Going through a free agent process isn’t always easy…but he’s not delivering at all right now.
Whoever describes himself as a positive guy tries to keep his spirits up, but he finds that the bad performances are piling up.
The snowball effect is indeed present, in fact. The less well he performs, the more it plays in his head when he comes to bat.
It may be one important shot to “turn the corner” and get out of it. That said, in the meantime, we feel that the Phillies, who have not had the expected start to the season, are getting impatient. And we understand them.
- Good news for the Canadian.
