Rob Thomson says Trea Turner insisted he did not want to take Tuesday off after his 0-3, two error and ejection game on Monday, but Thomson is taking the decision away from and sitting Turner down for tonight's series finale against the Orioles.
"The night he got thrown out after the game, I approached him and I said, 'Do you need a day off?' Because I knew he was frustrated. And he said, adamantly, he said, 'Nope, I want to play.' So we played him last night and then after the game last night I took it away from him," Thomson told the 94WIP Morning Show on Wednesday.
"So he will have tonight off. So that will give him two days and then we'll start him back up in Pittsburgh [on Friday]. This is a guy who really cares. He really wants to do well. He works as hard as anybody, maybe too much. We're going to stand by him because he's a great player. He's going to get it going at some point and he's going to get hot."
Thomson was asked if he keeps Turner in the two-hole because he does not want to hurt his confidence.
"Yeah, I think it's a part of it," Thomson said. "But I don't think he can stay there forever. We dropped him down earlier in the season and he started to get him going. But he's been up and down for most of the year. It doesn't mean we won't drop him down again, but it is part of it. I think people are comfortable in certain spots, I know he is comfortable when he is going good. He is comfortable in that spot, but it doesn't mean we won't drop him again."
In Monday's series opener against Baltimore, Turner went 0-3 at the plate, committed two errors at shortstop, and was ejected in the 5th inning after arguing with the home plate umpire. Last night, Turner went 0-4 with a strikeout.
Turner, in his first season as a Phillie after signing an 11-year, $300 million contract this offseason, is hitting a career low .245 through 100 games with just 10 home runs and 34 RBIs. Turner's .297 on-base percentage is also a career low and his .384 slugging percentage is his lowest mark since his rookie season, which consisted of just 44 plate appearances.
Turner has a -1.2 win probability added for an offensive player. He's never finished a season with a negative WPA.
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