Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson wanted a new plate approach out of shortstop Trea Turner in 2025. The new approach focuses heavily on bat-to-ball skills, which leaves Phillies fans delighted with the new table-setter approach to set up the big sluggers in the lineup.
The change to Turner's approach came as a breath of fresh air and surprisingly, was initiated after an early-season discussion between Turner and Thomson in hopes of getting more action out of Turner on the base paths. The focus was to not worry about home runs but, solely to get on base, steal bases and score runs for the club.
"At the start of the season, Trea and I had a talk, and I said, 'I don't care about home runs,'" Thomson told the media this past weekend. "'We got plenty of guys that can do that. I want you to get on base and .380 is the goal. I want you to steal bases. I want you to get 40. I want you to score 100 runs.' If he does that, I don't care about anything else."
Trea Turner's new contact-first approach that Phillies fans have been begging for comes at a cost
The new hitting philosophy has worked out for the Phillies and Turner. He's sporting a .297 batting average while chasing at a 28.1 percent rate, a 6.2 point drop from last year. He has bumped his on-base percentage up to .371. That's good for a 33 point increase in his on-base percentage over last year. One thing to note is his slugging percentage is down from .469 to .367, which plays into the new approach.
A caveat has been Turner's similar strikeout rate from last year: 18.9 percent this year, 18.2 percent in 2024. According to On Pattison's Tim Kelly, Turner has also stated his reservations about missing extra base hits, and it does raise the question if it's still the right move for Turner. He has hit well so far, but at the expense of only hitting one home run (subscription required), per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. He bat .295 last year while slugging 21 home runs in 121 games, but Turner understands the process.
"It's a great goal and we talked about it and I definitely want to achieve that," Turner said, per Kelly. "That'd be a really good season if I can get on base that high. ... I'm definitely finding first base a lot, but I still want to be a complete player. So (Thomson's) right in the sense that I can't just chase power and swing out of my shoes all the time. I need to be controlled and those homers will come. So, I agree with him.
"But I just want to take it to another level. I feel like right now, I'm doing what we talked about, but we've seen in the past, I can hit the ball out of the ballpark, hit doubles and drive the ball. That's just the last piece (that's needed)."
Turner has been at the top of the lineup since he was brought into the clubhouse in 2023. Whether he's batting leadoff or in the No. 2 hole, he's a vital part of the run production for the club. The results have yielded a lot of singles so far to give guys like Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber a chance to drive him in, especially with Turner's elite speed. One thing that could also give peace of mind that this new approach could not just set up his ability to get on base, but also retain his production as he starts to lift the ball in the summer months.