Turner's 2-HR game features career long, helps Phils pad lead

ATLANTA -- Trea Turner considers his swing a complicated one.

It is special when he repeats it.

His swing is helping him put together a potentially historic season for a Phillies shortstop. He homered twice in Friday night’s 8-6 victory over the Braves at Truist Park, giving the Phillies a 10-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East and helping Aaron Nola to his 100th career win.

Turner hit a hanging curveball from Braves left-hander Max Fried into the left-field seats for a two-run homer in the fourth inning. He crushed a hanging slider from Fried to left for a two-run homer in the sixth.

“I feel like when I repeat, I can have good at-bats,” Turner said. “I can do what I’m supposed to. I can end the at-bat when I should. I felt like today, if the pitch was in the zone, I took a good swing at it. If it wasn’t, I took it. The at-bats were good all day. The decision-making was good. That comes from repeating the load and seeing the ball good.”

Turner’s homer in the sixth was the longest of his career. It traveled a projected 459 feet, according to Statcast.

He hit a 439-foot homer at Wrigley Field on Tuesday, when he also homered twice.

“He’s not the biggest man on the planet,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I don’t know how he hits the ball so far.”

Turner learned on Wednesday that he will start for the National League at shortstop in the All-Star Game. He said at the time it was nice to just be in the conversation following his early-season struggles last year.

Through the Phillies’ first 88 games in 2023, Turner slashed .250/.302/.393 with a .695 OPS. Through the club’s first 88 games in 2024, he's slashing .341/.386/.510 with a .896 OPS.

“I always take it day by day, for the most part,” Turner said. “Obviously, when you’re hitting .230, you’re trying to make it all up in one day, which is tough. And when you’re hitting .330, if you go 0-for-4, it’s a little easier. Mentally, I’m sure it’s easier to put bad games behind me at this point as opposed to last year.

“To me, I just feel like my swing’s in just a way better spot. My decision-making [and] my ability to adjust has been a lot better this year than last. I think, for my career, that’s more typical -- being able to make adjustments. I’m going to struggle here or there, but to make the adjustment faster, I talked about that a lot in Spring Training and early this year. I keep kind of proving that right, I guess.”

Turner missed six weeks this season because of a strained left hamstring, but he is still putting together one of the best seasons of his career. He could finish with one of the best seasons by a shortstop in Phillies history.

Turner finished Friday with 223 plate appearances in 49 games (4.6 per game). The Phillies have 74 games to play. If he plays in those remaining 74 games at his current rate, he would finish with 559 plate appearances overall.

Players need 502 to qualify for a batting title.

San Diego's Jurickson Profar leads all qualified NL hitters with a .316 batting average. If Turner maintains his current pace and stays healthy, he could be the first Phillies player to win a batting title since Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn hit .350 in 1958.

Turner’s .896 OPS also would best Jimmy Rollins’ .875 OPS in 2007 for the highest single-season mark by a qualified shortstop in franchise history. Rollins won the NL MVP Award in '07.

Those types of things would be nice, but right now, Turner is helping a shorthanded offense win games.

“I work on my swing a lot,” Turner said. “It’s about being efficient and moving correctly. I pay attention to all that stuff for the most part. It’s not always going to be perfect, but sometimes it syncs up like that.”