Since Returning From Hamstring Injury Trea Turner Is Dominating

Back on May 3, Trea Turner went down with a bad hamstring injury, sending him to the injured list and interrupting his season. Beyond missing a month of playing time to recover, Turner also had to halt an impressive start. When he returned to the diamond on June 17 the question remained whether Turner could maintain his hitting.

In the 21 games since returning, Turner hasn’t just maintained his hitting — he’s taken it to the next level.

For the first 33 games of the season, Turner had a .852 OPS, setting the bar pretty high for himself. Since returning, Turner has only raised the bar, raking at the plate. Turner’s .348 batting average isn’t much of a jump from the .343 average he hit before his injury, but his 1.029 OPS in the past 21 games is a leap. The .177 bump in OPS accounts for the additional power in his bat.

Turner hit well at the plate to start the season, but it was mostly just singles. His 47 hits are impressive, but the mere two home runs and 9 RBIs left a little more to be desired. Since returning from his injury, though, Turner’s already hit seven home runs. The power that was missing at the start of the season is finally there, and it’s paying off for the Phillies.

Before his stint on the injured list, Turner had a .460 slugging percentage. Although that’s certainly a solid slugging rate, it pales in comparison to the .633 he’s slugging since his return. That impressive power has resulted in seven home runs, 20 RBIs, and a 188 wRC+. In 12 fewer games, Turner has accumulated three times as many home runs and double the RBIs.

Batting second in the lineup, Turner comes up to the plate with runners on base often, and as a leader on the team, he’s expected to step up. Since returning in June, he’s certainly done that, racking up a 1.144 OPS. It’s a major step up from the .702 OPS, two extra-base hits, and seven RBIs he had in the first 33 games.

It seemed like Turner hit his stride in the Phillies’ most recent series against the Dodgers. In the three-game series, Turner went 7-for-12 with two home runs and six RBIs. In the first game of the series, his grand slam helped push the Phillies’ lead out of the Dodgers’ reach. Then in the second game, he gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth and scored the winning run. In the series finale, he got the Phillies on the board with a solo shot in the first inning.

Turner has always been a key player for the Phillies who comes through when they need him, but that’s been taken to a whole new level since he returned from his hamstring injury.