Dodgers News: Trea Turner Happy to End on a High Note Personally
Trea Turner stumbled into the final day of the regular season, riding a slump unlike many he's been through in the big leagues. He had five hits in his previous 30 at-bats, and he hadn't hit a homer off an actual pitcher in a month.
Throw in his struggles in previous postseasons, and some people were a little worried about Trea — including Trea himself.
Two strikeouts to start the game on Wednesday made it seem like another one of those days, but he got things turned around. Turner came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning with one out, two runners on, and the game tied, 1-1. In the on-deck circle was Freddie Freeman, who was 2-for-2 and trying to chase a 4-for-4 that would give him 200 hits and the National League batting title. In a weird way, Turner's at-bat was almost an afterthought.
But not for long, as he drove a 95-MPH fastball 407 feet over the wall in right-center field to give the Dodgers a 4-1 lead on the way to a 6-1 win. Freeman then flied out, ending his chase for 200 and the batting title. He would end the day 3-for-4.
But for Turner, as Bill Plunkett reports in the Orange County Register, that swing felt like a pretty big deal. He added a 110-MPH single in the seventh inning.
“It feels good to have some success with all the swings and everything I’ve done the last few days or a few weeks and even a couple months,” Turner said. “It’s good to end on a high note and get ready for the postseason and try to keep rolling there.”
As Turner notes, he has been putting in a ton of work during his slump. Hours before Wednesday's game, he was out on the field taking live at-bats against injured pitchers Dustin May and Blake Treinen, along with all the work he's been doing in the batting cages with L.A.'s hitting staff.
For all of Turner's late-season struggles, he still finished the season with a .298 batting average, 194 hits, 100 RBIs, 101 runs, 27 stolen bases, and 64 extra-base hits. If he can get back into the form he was showing mid-season, he would be a huge boost to a potent Los Angeles lineup.
