In the last few days, Trea Turner has been talked about. For what? Because the Phillies shortstop fell on paternity leave. His wife was expecting the couple’s second child.
It caused a stir because the star was on leave nine months after accepting a $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Turner returned to action this weekend against the Marlins… and in all three games this weekend, he hit two long balls and put the ball to safety.
Here he is at 24 circuits this season.
It is easy to believe in dad power, or the extra power that some fathers have when returning to the game. That said, in the case of Turner, it is clear that the answer to the riddle is the “ovation” of recent weeks.
The ovation is when the Phillies saw their fans decide to stand up and applaud Turner to encourage him in his season very difficult.
It’s rare to see Philly fans have common sense, but this time it worked. The next day, Turner hit a long ball and thanked the fans with billboards.
And since then, Turner has just been on fire.
Turner had 10 homers at the time of receiving the ovation and he was hitting really bad. He couldn’t get the ball to a safe place. His .236 average and 115 strikeouts spoke volumes.
But since then, in 30 matches, things have been going really well.
He hit 14 home runs, including nine in his last 10 games. No one else in the MLB in 2023 has such a streak of nine home runs in 10 games, to give you an idea.
In 30 games, he is hitting .380. He has 35 RBIs, which brought his total to 70 for the season. So he has as many in one month as in the first four.
Clearly, the fans’ ovation saved him – and he’s the first to admit it.
This helps the Phillies. Even though they lost yesterday, we see that the club is in a good position to make the playoffs in 2023.
The Phillies have a four-game lead over the DBacks, who are battling with the Cubs, Marlins, Giants and Reds for the final two playoff spots.
Note that the Braves are already qualified.
- One to watch for the Yankees.
