Trea Turner struggled defensively at shortstop in the first season of an 11-year/$300 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, but there’s no plan to move him to second base and have Bryson Stott resume playing his natural position of shortstop.
In his year-end press conference this week, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski explained why the team will continue to play Turner at shortstop and Stott at second base moving forward.
“No, I don’t think so,” Dombrowski said when asked if the Phillies plan to entertain the conversation of flipping Turner and Stott. “Stott has made a really good adjustment to second base. He feels great there, and he is a Gold Glove candidate. He may not win it, but he is deserving of it, and I’m sure he will continue to be.”
In his first full season as a second baseman, Stott finished third among all players at the position in outs above average (17) and seventh in defensive runs saved (6). Ha-Seong Kim of the San Diego Padres and Nico Hoerner of the Chicago Cubs are the two other deserving finalists for the NL Gold Glove Award at second base, and it would be hard to argue against any of the trio taking home the honor.
Still, Turner struggled so much at shortstop in his first year with the Phillies that the idea of moving him to second base is hardly an unreasonable thought.
In 2023, Turner led all qualified defenders with 23 errors, while posting -12 defensive runs saved and -4 outs above average. While he made a game-saving defensive play in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Atlanta Braves, he had a pair of miscues in the field in Game 2 that contributed to a crushing loss. Just about any way you slice it, 2023 was a bad year defensively for Turner.
Still, the Phillies believe that it will prove to be something of an outlier.
“I think Trea Turner will be better for us defensively next year,” Dombrowski continued. “He made more errors than he normally does. Of course, he made some really good plays too.
“But again, I think when you have a situation due to the organization, having a chance to work with [infield coach] Bobby Dickerson from the very beginning of Spring Training, and not just your first time. He wasn’t in Spring Training because of the World Baseball Classic the whole time last year. I think he’ll be a more consistent defensive player than he was this year.”
The Phillies didn’t sign Turner believing they were getting a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop. But in his contract year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Turner posted -1 defensive runs saved and zero outs above average. He was essentially a replacement level fielder. And while he doesn’t have an arm like Jimmy Rollins, Turner remains one of the best athletes in the sport. The biggest problem for Turner in 2023 wasn’t getting to balls he should have, it was getting there and either letting it eat him up or making a poor throw to first base. To some degree, that should be correctable.
Another reality here is that Stott is a Gold Glove finalist at second base, after posting -5 defensive runs saved and -3 outs above average in 658 1/3 innings at shortstop in his rookie season. It’s not as though if the Phillies flip Turner and Stott they would all of a sudden have an Ozzie Smith-caliber defender manning shortstop. It’s just a matter of was Turner so bad at shortstop that you have to get him away from the position at all costs. For now, the Phillies have decided that the answer to that question is no.
There will come a day during Turner’s lengthy contract where he will no longer be able to play shortstop. He probably doesn’t have the arm strength to play third base, and an early-career experiment with him playing center field for the Washington Nationals didn’t go especially well. So eventually, Turner will almost certainly be the primary second baseman for the Phillies. That just won’t be in 2024.
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