It’s finally Trea Turner’s time to shine in the nation’s capital as the Washington Nationals announced Friday that Turner has been recalled with Ryan Zimmerman going on paternity leave.
MLB.com’s William Ladson first reported the news on Thursday.
MLB rules state Zimmerman can miss up to three days on leave following the birth of his child.
Turner, who was selected 13th overall by the San Diego Padres in the 2014 MLB draft, is considered one of the brightest young prospects in baseball. The shortstop ranks No. 9 overall on Baseball America‘s Top 100 Prospects list, and MLB.com lists him as the fourth-best shortstop in the minors behind the Philadelphia Phillies‘ J.P. Crawford, Milwaukee Brewers‘ Orlando Arcia and Atlanta Braves‘ Dansby Swanson.
Through 50 games with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs this season, Turner is batting .310 with a .376 on-base percentage, .472 slugging percentage, .848 OPS, three home runs, 24 RBI and 17 stolen bases.
The 22-year-old made his major league debut last August, but he proceeded to bat just .225 with two stolen bases and one home run over the course of 44 plate appearances.
This time around, the Nationals will hope for more production out of Turner, since the team has generally lacked strong hitting from its shortstops during a solid 33-21 start to the season.
Starter Danny Espinosa, in particular, has failed to make an impact at the plate. Through 198 plate appearances, the 29-year-old is sitting right at the Mendoza Line even though he’s more than halfway to eclipsing last season’s home run total of 13 (he has seven).
Stephen Drew, who has played 30.2 innings at shortstop, is also struggling with his bat. Although the sample is limited to 57 plate appearances, Drew is batting .173 with a .228 on-base percentage.
While the team has yet to announce how long Turner’s next stint in MLB will last, it will be worth monitoring Washington’s interest in an extended stay. As the Washington Post‘s James Wagner noted, Turner was on the roster for 45 days a year ago, and he needs 127 more days with the club to accrue a full season of MLB service time.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.
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