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35 things to know about new Phillie Trea Turner

He's a hit machine with a penchant for cycles who could end a long Phillies drought. Get to know their new $300 million shortstop.

Trea Turner joins a star-studded Phillies lineup for 2023.
Trea Turner joins a star-studded Phillies lineup for 2023.Read moreRick Scuteri / AP
    by Ed Barkowitz, For The Inquirer
    Published 

Some fun facts, tantalizing trivia and meandering minutia on Trea Turner. As proof, we have Jimmy Rollins, Wade Boggs, and even Maikel Franco mentioned in this report.

Read up on these 35 things to know about Turner, the new Maserati in manager Rob Thomson’s garage for next season:

  1. Turner’s 11-year, $300 million deal with the Phillies is guaranteed and breaks down to $27,272,727 annually which will make him the third-highest paid shortstop in the league next season. Only the Rangers’ Corey Seager ($35.5 million) and the Mets’ Francisco Lindor ($34.1 million) will make more.

» READ MORE: How owner John Middleton pushed the Phillies to land Trea Turner

  1. Rookie Bryson Stott, the Phillies’ shortstop during last year’s playoffs, made $700,000 in 2022.

  2. Turner reached 100 RBIs for the first time in his career last season by hitting a three-run home run off Colorado’s Chad Smith on the final day of the regular season.

  3. He also had 21 home runs and an .809 OPS to win his first Silver Slugger Award. San Diego’s Fernando Tatis, who had won Silver Sluggers the previous two seasons, did not play in 2022 because of injury and suspension.

  4. Turner was voted to start last year’s All-Star Game for the National League.

  5. Taproom trivia I: The last Phillies shortstop to start an All-Star Game was Rollins in 2002.

  1. Turner struck out 131 times, the fourth consecutive full season he has eclipsed 100 whiffs and one off his career high. At this point, he’ll be in a lineup with three other Phillies players who were in the top 30 in strikeouts last year: league leader Kyle Schwarber (200), Rhys Hoskins (sixth, 169), and Nick Castellanos (29th, 130).

  2. Phillies shortstops combined to strike out 130 times, and hit just .235 with 12 home runs last season.

  3. Turner ranked sixth among NL shortstops in Defensive Runs Saved by FanGraphs, and seventh in overall defense.

  4. He won the batting title in 2021 when he hit .328 for the Washington Nationals and the Dodgers.

» READ MORE: With a hefty contract for Trea Turner, the Phillies are all in on the next five seasons

  1. Taproom trivia II: Next season will be the 65th anniversary since the last Phillie led the NL in hitting (Richie Ashburn, 1958, .350).

  2. Turner will turn 30 on June 30, which could be an interesting night at Citizens Bank Park. Two years ago, Turner hit for the cycle on his birthday and this June 30 is fireworks night at CBP.

  3. Turner shares the record of three career cycles with Christian Yelich, Adrian Beltre, Babe Herman, Bob Meusel, and Long John Reilly.

  4. Taproom trivia III: Chuck Klein is the only Phillie with two cycles. David Bell (2004) hit the most recent cycle for the Phils.

  1. Schwarber, of course, was the Phillies’ leadoff hitter last season, but it’s worth noting that Turner hit .337 batting first for the Dodgers last season and has led off for the majority of his career.

  2. It’s never too early to look ahead, right? The Phillies open the 2023 season at Texas where they likely will face new Rangers ace Jacob deGrom. Turner is 11-for-46 (.237) off deGrom with one home run and 16 strikeouts.

  3. Turner hit .320 against the Braves last season (8-for-25), but just .214 against the Mets (6-for-29).

» READ MORE: How much of a swing in the Phillies' World Series odds could the Turner signing produce?

  1. His 26-game hitting streak from May 9-June 3 was the longest in the majors in 2022. He also had a 20-game streak and four others that stretched at least 16 games.

  2. He had at least one hit in 132 of his 160 games, which is three behind the all-time record for a season of 135 held by Rogers Hornsby (1922), Klein (Phillies, 1930), Boggs (1985), Derek Jeter (1999), and Ichiro Suzuki (2001). Never knew this record existed.

  3. Turner’s 194 hits were second in the majors to Dodgers teammate Freddie Freeman (199). Alec Bohm led the Phillies with 164 hits.

» READ MORE: Howie Kendrick loves the Trea Turner signing: ‘He brings every tool to the table’

  1. In 212 regular-season games with the Dodgers, Turner had at least one hit in 178 of them (84%). He also had at least one hit in all four postseason games in 2022, going 6-for-18 overall (.333).

  2. Turner helped the Nationals win the World Series in 2019, although he hit just .161 in that seven-game series win over the Astros.

  1. He finished second to Seager for 2016 National League Rookie of the Year. Was a teammate of Bryce Harper’s in Washington from 2015-18.

  2. He’s still one of the fastest players in baseball, though he’s stealing fewer bases as he’s getting older. Had 27 steals last season in 30 attempts, which is outstanding. It’s the first time he’s had fewer than 30 in a full season in his career.

  3. He played at North Carolina State with Carlos Rodon, who was with the Giants last season and is probably the best starting pitcher left on the free-agent market.

  4. Turner and Rodon, in 2013, helped the Wolfpack reach the College World Series for just the second time in program history. Dan Plesac is probably the other most notable N.C. State baseball player, not counting Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson.

» READ MORE: Phillies offseason tracker, from rumors to potential free agents to done deals.

  1. Turner led the nation with 57 steals (in 63 games) as a freshman in 2012. John Manuel of Baseball America told the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer that “every time he gets on base, he’s a one-man rally.”

  2. While he was in college, Turner would occasionally announce his intention to steal loudly enough for opponents to hear. That doesn’t happen anymore.

  3. He majored in chemical engineering at N.C. State.

  4. He and his wife Kristen have a son, Beckham Dash Turner, who will turn 2 in February. The couple were college sweethearts. Kristen, a former gymnast at N.C. State, hails from Flemington, N.J. (23 miles north of Doylestown).

  1. They were married in 2018, and their first dance was to “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran. Shame they missed out on “Dancing On My Own” this past October.

  2. He was drafted by the Padres with the 13th overall pick in 2014. Rodon went third, Schwarber fourth, Aaron Nola seventh. No. 1 overall pick Brady Aiken never signed with the Astros, and never played in the majors.

  3. The Padres sent Turner to Washington in 2015 as a player to be named later from a previous trade. The rebuilding Nationals sent him to the Dodgers at the 2021 trade deadline.

» READ MORE: What would Carlos Rodon and Trea Turner bring to the Phillies? A former teammate knows.

  1. Turner was rated the fourth-best prospect in the International League (triple A) in 2015. Lindor (Indians organization), Luis Severino (Yankees), and Franco (Phillies) were 1-2-3. Aaron Judge (Yankees) was 10th.

  2. He grew up in Boynton Beach, Fla., and went to many of the Marlins’ playoff games as a 10-year-old when they won the World Series in 2003.