Player Profile: Trea Turner
Trea Turner (age 23) has quickly risen up in the ranks of Major League Baseball due to his impressive batting skills and speed, as well as his accuracy playing the outfield. Turner was drafted by the Pittsburg Pirates in the 20th round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft from Park Vista Community Highschool. He was then drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 1st round (13th pick) of the 2014 MLB June Amateur draft from North Carolina State University. He made his uneventful major league debut on August 21, 2015 with 2 At Bats and 0 Hits but went on to exceed rookie limits in his 2016 season with the Washington Nationals.
Since his debut, Turner has indeed exceeded expectations. His career batting average has risen to .304 with 231 Hits, 133 Runs and 25 HR in the past two years. His quickness allows him to make impossible plays and lands him on base in situations where most MLB starters wouldn’t have had a chance. This level of talent at such a young age is impressive, but not elusive of all rookie disadvantages. Turner’s performance during the 2017 post-season was disappointing and not surprising. The 23-year-old froze up against Cubs pitchers and failed to bring the same precision and courage that he exemplified during the regular season. This is nothing against Turner, many experienced MLB players have trouble handling the pressure of Division Series and Turner has only been in the game for a short while.
Turner has the potential to be, and already is becoming, a fan/team favorite for the Washington Nationals. His injury acquired during this past season is worrisome in looking towards the future and the Nats may need to beef him up like they did Bryce Harper to work on avoiding further complications.
Despite his performance in post-season, Trea Turner still portrays extremely valuable skills and will continue to rise in the ranks of MLB. As the experience under his belt accumulates, I expect his stellar regular season batting to extend into post-seasons in the future.
Here are some of Turner’s stats as of now:
Career AVG: .304.
HR: 25
RBI: 86
OBP: .348
