Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner hasn't played since Sept. 7 due to a strained right hamstring. He's working his way back and is looking to potentially play before the end of the regular season. Phillies' manager Rob Thomson is airing on the side of caution, but his latest return would be Game 1 of the NLDS. The Phillies miss having their All-Star shortstop, and Turner certainly misses being a part of the winning the Phillies have experienced over the last week.
Turner is currently also missing out on capping off his potential National League batting title season. He'll miss just over 20 games in 2025, which will still make him eligible. Before being sidelined, he was hitting .305 with 94 runs, 15 home runs and 69 RBIs in 140 games.
Bryce Harper rooting for his teammate Trea Turner to bring home NL batting title
Phillies fans would love nothing more than to have Turner win the batting title in Philadelphia. It would be the second one of his career, with the first one taking place in 2021 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It also makes it that much better when you have a teammate like Phillies star first baseman Bryce Harper who's just as excited about the opportunity for Turner to win such an achievement.
Harper is backing his teammate and recently spoke about what it would mean for Turner to win the NL batting in 2025, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki.
“I really hope he gets it,” Harper said, Zolecki. “He deserves it. He’s been one of the best players in the National League this year. Kind of a slap in the face to everybody else that he wasn’t an All-Star, and now, he’s doing what he’s doing.”
If Turner can hold onto the batting title, he would be the first Phillies' player to win the award since 1958, when Richie Ashburn hit .350. His current .305 batting average has held the lead ever since he landed on the IL. The next closest hitter and potential threat is Chicago Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner. Hoerner has racked up four hits over his last three games to pull himself within mere points of Turner, batting .300 with three games left to play.
Many Phillies fans argued in favor of Turner's All-Star worthiness this season, including Harper. Per FanGraphs, Turner is second among NL shortstops with a 6.8 fWAR. He's behind only the Arizona Diamondbacks' Geraldo Perdomo who has played 17 more games. Even with all the missed time, Turner still leads the NL in hits with 179. Turner will also receive his fair share of MVP votes this season with how valuable he's been.
Turner may not have had the chance to play the whole season, but it still was quite the season he put together. His 2025 campaign has restored the faith of all the Phillies fans who were wondering if they were ever going to see the late-2023 version of Turner again. He has been amazing and has a chance to come back later this week to cap off his season. It then won't be too long after that Turner gets his chance in the playoffs to be that MVP-caliber threat that Phillies fans have waited all year for.