Phillies star Trea Turner is chasing pitches — and answers — during career-worst slump

PHILADELPHIA — The at-bat lasted 10 pitches and, by the end, there were different methods of analyzing it. Trea Turner struck out Sunday afternoon. From the dugout, Phillies manager Rob Thomson approved. “I saw a really good at-bat,” Thomson said. Kevin Long, the club’s veteran hitting coach, did not disagree. He believed Turner could be happy that every pitch he swung at was in the zone — with the exception of the final one, a tough slider down and in.

“Or you can look at it the other way,” Long said, “which I know is how he’s going to look at it.”

Long has known Turner for years and, during the worst slump of the star shortstop’s career, he has acted as both coach and therapist. “I know he’s really hard on himself,” Long said. It emerges in any conversation with Turner.

“I’ve sucked,” he said Monday afternoon.

He has chased 37 percent of the pitches he’s seen out of the zone — the highest rate of his career — and it’s an underlying reason for his .256/.303/.390 batting line. Turner struck out 55 times in his first 45 games. It was the most he’s ever struck out in any 45-game stretch.

“Honestly,” he said, “I probably haven’t played this bad in my entire career.”

Turner reviewed that 10-pitch at-bat with Long after Sunday’s game against the Cubs. He watched the slider that he missed.

“A good pitch,” Turner said. “I’m OK with swinging at that slider. But, for me, I was way more angry with just missing six fastballs in the zone. That’s what I feel like the whole season’s been like.”

It comes back to the original problem — chasing.

“I think a little bit of this kind of snowballed on me because of that,” Turner said. “Like any time in my career I’ve thought about, ‘All right, let’s get in the middle of the zone and don’t chase and swing at good pitches,’ then I miss pitches I should hit. I’ve always been aggressive when I’m going well. My head stays still. I see the ball. I’m ready to hit everything.

“So I think a little bit of this has been that. Trying to not chase, trying to walk. And I don’t think that’s the player I am. There’s a fine line. Obviously, I want to walk. I don’t want to chase. The question is: How do you make that happen? How do you do that? And that’s what I’ve been battling.”

Long, shifting from hitting coach to therapist, offered his assessment.

“At this point, I honestly think he hasn’t relaxed yet,” Long said. “He hasn’t been comfortable. And once he gets there, it all falls into place. But the try is probably a little bit too much at times. So he’ll come to grips with it and he’ll start being much more comfortable and relaxed in his own skin.”

It had been 33 days since Turner came to bat with runners in scoring position and delivered a hit. In that span, he had 23 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. He struck out 11 times. He has often looked like someone trying to atone for weeks of poor results with one swing.

“I think it’s just natural, right?” Kyle Schwarber said. “When you come into a new place and you’re going to be here for multiple years, you want to make a good statement of yourself. When you feel like you’re not living up to your expectations, you kind of get in your own way. And I’m not saying that for him. I’m saying I felt that way last year at some point early in the year when I was scuffling.”

Turner, finally, mustered a hit Monday night with a runner in scoring position. He fouled off two pitches in the zone, then slapped a slider a little off the plate into right field for a run-scoring single. It didn’t change the outcome of the game, a 6-3 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Everyone around the Phillies has been waiting to see the dynamic version of Turner. And, on the list of concerns generated by their 22-25 start to the season, Turner ranks low. There is confidence in the track record that earned Turner a $300 million deal this past offseason as one of the best players in the sport.

Trea Turner homers against Boston earlier in the month. (Kyle Ross / USA Today)

Turner, after that single and a ninth-inning walk Monday, did not proclaim himself fixed. “My first three at-bats were brutal for the most part,” he said. “Just that consistency I talk about. When I can do that for four or five at-bats in a day and then for a week and then a month, I’ll feel a little bit better.” But he thinks his swing has been good for two or three weeks.

It’s a matter of making better decisions now.

“I’ve been getting advice from everyone and their mom in the last two weeks,” Turner said. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. You know, people see me struggling and they want to help. It’s been nice to see how many people are really paying attention or care. Not just people in the clubhouse. Just people that know me in general. It’s hard when you’re struggling. It’s like, ‘Hey, let’s try this. Let’s try that. Let’s try this.’ You keep bouncing around, keep bouncing around, keep listening. At the end of the day, you just got to play better.”

This is something Long has tweaked. Last Saturday, Turner did not play for the first time all season. Thomson viewed it as a hard reset. But Turner has spent extra time in the cage with Long for weeks. “We’ve gone really, really hard,” Long said. “Our workload has been almost too much at times.” So, with that reset, Long backed off.

“Trea,” he told him, “you know how to do this. I’m giving you a bunch of information. We’ve tried. Let’s just trust what you’ve done and your ability. Let’s see where that gets us.”

This stuck with Turner.

“Exactly,” he said. “You have to listen to yourself. And that’s not to say all these people that I’ve talked to haven’t given me great advice, you know? Like I keep saying, I’ve sucked. I haven’t really found a way to play better or be more consistent. And that’s kind of what I’ve done my whole career — just be consistent. Not strike out. Put the ball in play. Do those things. And I just haven’t done that. That’s why it hasn’t been great. I think it’s just on me, man. It’s on me to play better.”

“I honestly think he hasn’t relaxed yet,” Kevin Long said of Turner. (D. Ross Cameron / USA Today)

Turner heard boos from the Phillies crowd Sunday. He doubled in his last at-bat, but the day still felt empty to him. The boos arrived again Monday night when he grounded out to shortstop in the fifth inning. Long has known Turner long enough to understand how he thinks. He is not satisfied with a few hard-hit balls that are caught. He is results-oriented. The strikeouts are driving Turner mad.

His chase rate rose from 26 percent in 2021 to a career-worst 33 percent in 2022. It’s only intensified in 2023. That is a concerning trend.

“Every year you kind of realize you’re a different player,” Turner said. “Your body’s different — not in a good or bad way. Maybe you have created a habit and now you feel strong in this area and weak in this area, or vice versa. So you just deal with what you got, right? I feel really good at times, and (Sunday) that double felt great. But then, like, what the hell was I doing for my first three at-bats (Monday)?

“That’s the most frustrating part. I’ll be so lost and then I’ll feel great and then I’ll be so lost. That pisses me off. I hate that.”

The Phillies have faith in Turner and, when the breakthrough comes, it’ll be something worth watching. They are just waiting longer for it than anyone expected. He’s but one reason this whole thing hasn’t felt right as June nears.

Before Monday’s game offered a few positive signs, someone suggested it might be the day things change for him.

“Well, I’ve said that every day for 30 days,” Turner said. “So …”

Maybe Tuesday’s the day.

(Top photo: Bill Streicher / USA Today)