'He’s trying to do too much': Turner dropped to 7th in lineup

PITTSBURGH -- Maybe this is the cure. Maybe it isn’t. But Rob Thomson needed to try something, so Saturday he dropped Trea Turner from second to seventh in the Phillies lineup.

“If I did my job better, then we wouldn’t have had that conversation,” Turner said, following Saturday’s 7-6 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.

But could this help him?

“I think it will help the team maybe,” he said.

In other words, Turner knows his performance atop the Phillies’ lineup has hurt the team at times. But he believes only he can solve his problems.

“You’ve got to put together good at-bats and swing at good pitches,” he said. “Build some momentum.”

Saturday was the first time Turner hit seventh or lower in a lineup since July 25, 2018, when he played for the Nationals. It was only the second time he hit lower than fourth.

“It was just time to let him breathe a little bit, let him relax,” Thomson said before the game. “He’s trying to do too much. When I think he’s got his stroke back and he’s comfortable, then I’ll get him [back to second] because I’ve said all along our best lineup is when he’s hitting and he’s hitting in the two spot. I just think we’ll produce the most runs that way.”

Turner was 1-for-3 with a walk Saturday. Pirates second baseman Liover Peguero robbed him of a hit with a diving catch in the third inning. Turner struck out swinging with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth. He walked to load the bases with no outs in the sixth. He singled and scored a run in the eighth.

“I felt like I grinded a little bit better and just battled more,” Turner said.

Turner is batting .242 with 10 home runs, 34 RBIs and a .674 OPS in 457 plate appearances this season. He has never hit lower than .272 in a season (minimum 50 plate appearances). He has never had an OPS lower than .760.

Turner signed an 11-year, $300 million contract in December, following five remarkable seasons that made him one of baseball’s elite players. From 2018-22, Turner’s 24.9 fWAR ranked seventh behind Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge, José Ramírez, Francisco Lindor and Alex Bregman.

But that All-Star version of Turner has not been seen for much of 2023.

“I never really thought we’d be here, but we are,” Turner said. “I’ve got to grind it out. I can’t get it all back in one day. … I think the numbers at the end of the year, they are what they are. They’re going to be good, bad, in the middle, whatever. For me, it’s stack good days on top of each other. I haven’t been able to do that this year.”

Turner went 0-for-5 with one strikeout on Friday. It followed two consecutive days off, which Thomson hoped would provide a mental reset.

It finally pushed him into making a significant change to the lineup.

“I think he understood,” Thomson said. “I think he’s disappointed. Not because he’s hitting seventh, just because he’s not producing like he expects himself to produce.”

Nick Castellanos moved into the No. 2 spot between Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, but he has been struggling even more than Turner. Castellanos went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts on Saturday. He is batting .118 with two home runs, six RBIs, two walks, 33 strikeouts and a .346 OPS in 89 plate appearances from July 4 through Saturday.

Castellanos is chasing more pitches off the plate (42.2 percent) in this stretch than before (39.5 percent through July 3). His hard-hit rate (32.7 percent) is much lower than before (46.2 percent). His walk rate is down (6.6 percent to 2.2 percent). His strikeout rate is up (24.6 percent to 37.1 percent).

“Just been no good, man, honestly,” Castellanos said. “Hard time just finding that consistent rhythm. The second half, just been bad. Sometimes I find myself in a hole and I want to get out of it. The harder I try, the deeper I get. I’ve just got to stay at it, keep working.

“Teams aren’t wanting to throw me strikes because I’m anxious and I want to hit so bad that I’m not letting myself get anything to hit.”

Thomson said he will keep Castellanos in the No. 2 hole for now. He believes he will get straightened out, just like he believes Turner will get straightened out. In the meantime, others need to step up, whether they are hitting first, fourth, fifth or ninth. There is no magical lineup that will fix the Phillies’ problems. The players need to solve their problems themselves.