Trea Turner Deserves More Love
There are 1 million reasons why players may get overlooked in Major League Baseball. In general, you’re at the mercy of the market that you play in. Sandy Alcantara is currently having one of the best pitching seasons we’ve seen in a minute. Still, he’s not getting the credit he deserves in many circles because he plays on a small-market team that is currently 4th in their division. While it’s frustrating seeing a player like that not get his due, it is understandable. And then you have a player like Trea Turner, who has played in big markets his entire career, yet never seems to be talked about among the game’s best players. That should probably change.
Turner’s accomplishments as a player are way more significant than people let on. The former top prospect has done nothing but hit since he came into the league. He consistently batted leadoff for a 2019 Nationals team that won the World Series. He’s never had a full season in which his bWAR was below 3. He’s led the league in hits and stolen bases twice. He won a batting title. He’s a plus defender, and he’s still only 29 years old. There may be shortstops in the sport who are more talented, but few have been as consistent as Turner over the last several years. It’s bizarre because, as I said, it’s not like he’s been buried in small markets. We’re talking about a guy who has played in Washington DC and Los Angeles. He’s consistently one of the best players on outstanding teams.
I think probably one of the big reasons why Turner maybe hasn’t gotten the love he’s deserved is because of how stacked some of the teams he’s played on have been. This is a guy who has played on teams with Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Clayton Kershaw. It’s hard to be the number 1 alpha dog when you’re surrounded by future Hall Of Famers. But I love watching him play. He’s what the world pretends Javier Baez is. A speedy, power hitting shortstop capable of providing a team with electric moments night in and night out. He won’t lament being called underrated this offseason, because some team is going to dish out a whole lot of money to make this guy their everyday shortstop. He’ll deserve it. He’s one of the game’s best players.