On December 5, 2022, at 2:37 pm, news broke that Trea Turner signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. The fans quickly found happiness again after a gutwrenching World Series loss. Excitement and anticipation began for the 2023 season with another long Red October on the horizon.
His season didn’t start well at all. In fact, Turner was off to the worst year of his professional career.
It all came to the forefront when he had an error in Miami that should have been the final out but became the reason the Phillies lost. Following the defeat, Trea Turner was interviewed and it looked like he was taking the loss hard.
He wasn’t smiling and wasn’t looking at the cameras. The fans saw this post-game reaction and one brought up the idea of giving him a standing ovation. It went viral and the next game, which happened to be a home game, the fans gave him a standing ovation. Since then, he’s been a completely different player. He looks more comfortable at the plate and on the field. With a full season of comfortable Trea Turner, what can we expect from him in 2024?
Trea Turner’s Offense
Before the ovation, Trea Turner was batting .235 with 105 hits, 10 home runs, and 34 RBI. Since then, he’s .344 with 65 hits, 16 home runs, and 41 RBI. That brings his full-season stats to a .268 batting average with 171 hits, 26 home runs, and 76 RBI. The big turnaround brings a lot of expectations going into the 2024 season.
Since there won’t be a World Baseball Classic tournament this year, Trea Turner can focus solely on the Phillies and Spring Training. I expect Trea Turner to have a batting average of around .295 with 175 hits, 28 home runs, and 100 RBI. I expect him to be the leadoff hitter the Phillies need him to be, moving Kyle Schwarber to a spot in the lineup where he’ll have more multi-run home runs.
Defensive Outlook
Trea Turner did not have the best defensive season. He finished the season with 23 errors, the most of his career by far. He also finished with a career-low .960 fielding percentage.
He was better toward the end of the season and the postseason. I expect Trea Turner to have around a .980 fielding percentage and go back down to single digits in errors like he usually does.
Elite Base Running
When the new rules were implemented this past off-season, there was a lot of talk regarding how many bases Trea Turner was going to steal. He’s one of the fastest players in Major League Baseball and the bases had just gotten bigger.
He finished the year with 30 stolen bases and I expect that to rise exponentially this season. I expect Ronald Acuña Jr and Trea Turner to fight for the lead this season. Turner has not surpassed 50 stolen bases in his career, but I see that changing this year. I see them taking advantage of his speed and I see him stealing around 55 stolen bases.
A comfortable Trea Turner is what the Phillies need to get back to the World Series. He’s consistently a 20+ home run, .300 average hitter and I expect to see that for the entire season this year.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
