Trea looks to carry 2nd-half turnaround into '24

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Opening Day is still nearly a month away, but Trea Turner is confident he’ll be ready to pick up exactly where he left off in 2023 -- and that would be a very good thing for the 2024 Phillies.

Though Turner's tenure in Philadelphia certainly didn't get off to an ideal start, his midseason turnaround in 2023 was well documented. The final numbers -- he slashed .266/.320/.459 (.778 OPS) -- were still well shy of his career averages, but for the final three months of the season, there was no question that his production was exactly what the Phils were hoping for when they signed him to an 11-year, $300 million deal.

After hitting .247 with a .687 OPS prior to the All-Star break, Turner slashed .292/.348/.554 (.902 OPS) in the second half. He averaged one homer every 18.5 plate appearances following the break, compared to one every 39.5 plate appearances before.

Then he slashed .347/.400/.633 (1.033 OPS) with three homers, five doubles and four stolen bases in 13 postseason games.

"I feel like the swing is kind of where it was at the end of last year," Turner said after going 2-for-3 with an RBI in the Phillies' 5-0 win over the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon at TD Ballpark. “I feel like I learned a lot last year and I've kind of carried that over to my work now, and it just feels good."

Of course, the feel-good explanation for Turner's resurgence following his months-long slump was that he was willed to success by the impromptu standing ovations from the Philadelphia faithful during the club’s series against the Royals from Aug. 4-6. Realistically, it's more likely that Turner flipped his season around when he stayed in the batting cages until midnight just a few nights earlier in Miami following a particularly painful loss on Aug. 2.

Turner had been putting in his usual work, but he realized some of his processes were a little off.

"Those last 40, 50, 60 games, I kind of figured out what all those feels are again," Turner said. "They're not quite there in the game yet [this spring], because you don't trust them yet being so early, but my work's been really good, I feel really good in the cage and I'm seeing the ball really well, which I like."

Over his final 70 games, including the postseason last year, Turner hit .306 with 19 homers, 13 stolen bases and a .951 OPS. That's a 43-homer, 30-stolen base pace over 162 games.

Needless to say, the Phillies would happily take those numbers in 2024.

“Obviously, it would just make us that much better,” manager Rob Thomson said. “They’re always going to go through times during the year when they don’t have their swing, but if we get him at the start of the year that helps us get off to a good start.”

Turner isn’t one to make excuses. He is quick to shoot down any theories that suggest his slow start stemmed from either the pressure of signing a massive contract or from missing valuable time getting acclimated to his new club when he was away for the World Baseball Classic last spring.

But it’s only human nature to think that one -- or both -- may have played a factor. Nick Castellanos talked extensively last season about how much more comfortable he was in year two after struggling to settle in during his first year with the Phillies in 2022. Bryce Harper and his 13-year, $330 million contract can certainly relate, too.

"Anybody who comes here, you start to get more comfortable in that second year," said Harper, one of Turner’s close friends dating to their days as teammates on the Nationals from 2015-18. "I thought he ended up having a great year and made some big plays in the postseason, as well. But I think just [him] being more and more comfortable each day will help us."

Getting in a full Spring Training is a good place to start in 2024 -- especially with a roster featuring many of the same teammates from Turner’s first season in a Phillies uniform.

“My body feels good, my defense is feeling really good, swing feels really good in the cage,” Turner said. “I just think the work I've done in the offseason has helped me already. I just feel like I'm ahead of where I was at [last year].”