Trea Turner On Pace To Do Something Not Seen by Phillies Player Since 2007

The Trea Turner era with the Philadelphia Phillies has been an interesting saga.

Signed to an 11-year, $300 million contract in December coming off their World Series loss in 2022, he was seen as the missing piece to their championship aspirations.

And when he went nuclear in the World Baseball Classic in March of 2023, it was hard for this fan base not to expect him to perform in that manner for the Phillies based on the contract that he just signed.

However, that was not the case early on.

Turner struggled for the most part of his first season in Philadelphia, getting a standing ovation from the fans at Citizens Bank Park in early-August that actually turned things around to the point where he finished with a .266/.320/.459 slash line, 26 homers, 76 RBI and an OPS+ of 110.

But the shortstop has largely been viewed as a disappointment.

Perhaps that's not fair.

After all, despite the poor defense that he has played, he did finish with OPS+ figures above the league average of 100, more than 20 homers and 60 RBI and bWAR numbers of 3.0 or higher in both years with the Phillies.

Still, for the amount of money he's getting paid, the expectations for the three-time All-Star and former batting champion were higher than that, and that placed a ton of pressure on him coming into the 2025 campaign following a disastrous early playoff exit last year.

So far, Turner has been elite.

Not only is he slashing .310/.365/.443 with an OPS+ that's at 125, but he's been chasing less and creating contact more, something that manager Rob Thomson wanted Turner to do this season.

That has the star on pace to do something not seen by a Philadelphia player since Jimmy Rollins during his 2007 NL MVP-winning campaign; record 200 hits and steal 40 bags in a single year.

Entering play on Tuesday, Turner is projected to finish with 203 hits, 116 runs and 43 stolen bases.

Because of this, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise the Phillies have gotten hot and are dominating opposing teams, putting up tons of runs without even hitting the ball over the fence just yet, giving their elite starting rotation some cushion to play with.

It's not the month of June yet, so there is still a long way to go.

But what Turner is doing thus far is not just something that has only been seen once before in franchise history in the modern era, but it's something that will allow this Philadelphia team to get over the final hump when it comes to winning a championship.

More From Phillies On SI