The least surprising thing for this Philadelphia Phillies team is the anger over how last season ended. A long-awaited jump start to the season led to a division title and a serious shot at the World Series, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. The story ended very differently, and now even fewer mistakes can be made if they want a championship in the near future.
The Phillies need their leaders to hold the team accountable. The club's veteran presence is more apparent than others and can hold a grounded perspective. After the birth of his daughter, Phillies' shortstop Trea Turner arrived at camp Wednesday and was looking to get back into the swing of things for spring training.
Last year's finish 'unacceptable' in Trea Turner's eyes
Turner comes into camp motivated to right the wrongs that the team committed down the stretch of last season. He knows the team has to perform better and that they have underperformed in the biggest games. On Wednesday, Turner commented on how those shortcomings have sat with him.
"I think you know, the last few years have been frustrating," Turner said in a video shared on X by 94WIP's Devan Kaney. "When you don't win, it's frustrating. You want to win and I think that's all of our goals, so anything short of that is borderline unacceptable in the sense that we have high goals.
"We have the team, we have the coaching staff, the ownership. Everyone's pulling in the same direction so when you're getting all those things and you dont win, it's frustrating. I think we look back and there's good parts of seasons and fun moments and what not, but at the end of the day, we want to win, so that's all that really matters."
“Last few years, it’s frustrating. When you don’t win, it’s frustrating…anything short of [winning] is borderline unacceptable.”
— Devan Kaney (@Devan_Kaney) February 19, 2025
Trea Turner joined the team at Spring Training today. He told us he felt like he reverted back to his early 2023 habits at the plate towards the end… pic.twitter.com/ULFUdOfx3Y
The Phillies cratered in the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2023 and then floundered in the NLDS against the New York Mets last season. Those two losses sank all the hype that had accumulated, and Turner knows the team can't afford to have that happen again. Their 33-33 record post-All-Star break in 2024 was the most frustrating part of it all because this team is just too talented. The team knows they can avoid disaster, but need to do the little things right in order to succeed.
Turner could very well be the leadoff hitter going forward so he could be the tone-setter for the club in 2025. Last year, Turner picked up offensively, slashing .295/.338/.469 with a .807 OPS. He also popped for 21 home runs over 121 games.
The 10-year veteran was in the middle of stinging losses in 2023 and 2024, so the club needs their shortstop to hold them steady. The losses carry a lot of weight, but as Turner said, it's time to leave that at the door and just try to win this year.