Edmundo Sosa
Edmundo Sosa certainly answered his call to replace Turner at the beginning of May and maintained excellence at the position for a solid month. While his average has now fallen below .300 — it was .303 on June 4 — he still hit safely in nine of the 11 games he played in June before Turner’s return. He has driven in 19 runs on the year, 17 of which came after he took over from Turner.
What was Turner doing before his injury?
Well, he was certainly doing better than in the early months of 2023. When Turner went down in the fifth inning against the Giants on May 3, he was hitting .343, with two hits in three at-bats in that contest. He had 10 stolen bases for the season. (Sosa has three swipes.)
Turner and Sosa have a nearly equal number of at-bats this season, 147 to 135 in Turner’s favor. And despite a distinct edge in stolen bases, Turner has only scored four more runs, 28 to 24. Interestingly, Sosa now holds an edge in RBI, 19 to nine. Turner’s OPS is 13 points higher at .835.
In terms of defense, Sosa’s shortstop fielding percentage this year is 20 points above league average at .992. Turner’s is eight points below the league at .964.
Nobody had Sosa evenly replacing Turner on their bingo card for 2024. Neither did anybody have Sosa bombing Ashburn Alley with a 439-foot homer.