Trea Turner might need another standing ovation from Phillies fans after disappointing start originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The Philadelphia Phillies are tied at the bottom of the MLB standings with the New York Mets with a terrible 9-19 record.
Rob Thomson was just fired, and Don Mattingly is taking over as interim manager after Alex Cora turned down the Phillies' offer. But the players are more to blame for the poor season, and Trea Turner is one of the players at fault for this bad start.
ESPN's David Schoenfield pointed out Turner's name among the biggest disappointments at shortstop in MLB this season. With Turner struggling again, it might be time for Phillies fans to bust out the standing ovation for the $300 million infielder.
"Disappointment: Take your pick. It has been a strange stat for many of the usual star shortstops," Schonfield writes. "... Trea Turner has a .658 OPS."
After Turner signed his big $300 million deal to come to Philadelphia, he got off to a very poor start, with fans questioning the deal and Turner's production.
But after a standing ovation, Turner began to turn things around. It became a trend for fan bases to give struggling stars a standing ovation, but none worked quite like the one for Turner.
Signed through the 2033 season, the Phillies are locked in with Turner for a while longer. And with his struggles this season both offensively and defensively, the concerns from a few years ago are back once more.
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Of course, a standing ovation won't work again, but if it could, then the Phillies faithful should look to do it ASAP. At 9-19, the season is at great risk of falling apart. Thomson was already fired, and there are major questions about this team moving forward.
Turner has a .658 OPS, a .230 average after leading the NL Last year with a .304 average, and an 81 OPS+, the worst he's had in a season since his 27-game rookie year in 2015.
If the standing ovation could work, now would be the time to do it. Turner is struggling, as Schoenfield named him among the most disappointing shortstops in the game this season.
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