Phillies’ Trea Turner has shaken bad habits and is starting to drive the ball again

DENVER — In the span of three days in April, Trea Turner was hit by two pitches on nearly the same spot on his left elbow.

He was drilled on April 17 against the Giants and then again April 20 against the Marlins. The Phillies shortstop wasn’t hurt to the point that he needed any time off — he finished both games and has played every day since — but he still felt that being hit caused him to fall into some bad habits. While he was still getting hits, he wasn’t driving the ball like he thought he should.

Against the Rockies, though, he thinks he’s starting to shake that.

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“I made a little adjustment the first day [in Colorado] working in the training room,” Turner said. “... They’re small changes for me, but it’s nice when I try to do something a little different, and then it kind of clicks and feels good.”

Turner had a 1.400 OPS through the first three games against the Rockies, and also bashed his first home run since May 7. He went hitless in the series finale on Thursday.

The Phillies don’t necessarily need Turner to provide a ton of power, especially when Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper are crushing balls in the top half of the lineup. Before the season, Phillies manager Rob Thomson told Turner to focus more on getting on base and manufacturing runs than searching for homers.

But they’ll also certainly take the power when it’s there.

And now that Turner is lofting some balls, it doesn’t mean he has deviated from the approach he had earlier in the season. Turner has an on-base percentage of .358 and is still wreaking havoc on the basepaths.

He stole two bases in the Colorado series. He swiped third base on Wednesday, forcing a throwing error from Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman to score an early run.

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Turner is 5-for-5 when stealing third this season.

“I try to be a smart baserunner and not be overly aggressive [at second], just because I feel like I’ll score on basically any hit,” Turner said. “A lot of times, I just pick my spots. I think it’s kind of free, and you have more of a head start over there with nobody holding you on. I feel like you shouldn’t get caught stealing if you do decide to go.”

Taijuan Walker returned to the Phillies’ starting rotation on Wednesday and tossed five innings in the 9-5 win. Walker is set to remain a starter until Aaron Nola (right ankle sprain) is reinstated from the injured list. But once Walker heads back to the bullpen, Thomson anticipates he will stay there.

The transition from starter to bullpen to back again can be taxing on a pitcher because of the differing routines. The Phillies don’t want to risk injury to Walker, who has a 2.97 ERA over seven starts and two relief appearances this season.

“I think at some point, we got to decide, whenever Nola’s back,” Thomson said. “If we need a spot start, we come get somebody else, just leave [Walker] right where he’s at, so we keep him healthy. I’m really excited to see him come out of the bullpen when we put him back there, just to see if his stuff plays up.

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“Because the few times he’s come out — the one in Tampa was unbelievable — but even the second time out, the first couple innings were really good. So I’m kind of excited about it.”

Thomson expects to use Walker in middle innings at first, and then progressively move him into higher-leverage situations. He followed a similar plan with former Phillie Jeff Hoffman during his breakout 2023 season, when he developed from a minor league signee into a trusted late-inning arm.

The reports from Andrew Painter’s fourth triple A start on Wednesday night were positive, Thomson said.

“Fastball was 96-98 [mph] again and got a lot of swing and miss, one run, three hits,” he said. “Four-plus innings, 71 pitches, so it was good. And in the rain, so inclement weather, so he handled that.”

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Thomson expects Painter to throw 80-85 pitches in his next start. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski has repeatedly indicated the Phillies are expecting their top prospect to be ready for his major league debut in “July-ish.”

Weston Wilson was fine on Thursday after leaving Wednesday’s game in the fourth inning with a migraine. ... Zack Wheeler (5-1, 2.67 ERA) is scheduled to start the Phillies’ first-ever game in Sacramento, Calif., on Friday against the Athletics.