Trea Vance Turner (born June 30, 1993) is an American professional baseball shortstop for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Dodgers. On the international level, he plays for the United States national team.
Turner played college baseball at North Carolina State. The San Diego Padres selected him in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft and traded him to the Washington Nationals in 2015. Though developed as a shortstop, Turner debuted in the major leagues in 2016 as Washington’s starting center fielder, and returned to shortstop for the 2017 season. Traded to the Dodgers during the 2021 season, he became a free agent after the 2022 season and signed an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Turner is a two-time MLB All-Star. He has led the National League in batting average once and twice in stolen bases. Turner won a Silver Slugger Award and has hit for the cycle three times, tying the MLB record for most cycles in a career. Turner set an MLB record in 2023 by stealing the most bases in a season without being caught. He won the 2019 World Series with the Nationals.
What was Trea Turner’s amateur career like?
Turner received his high school education at Park Vista Community High School in Lake Worth, Florida, where he was a member of the school’s baseball team. Despite being only lightly sought-after by college programs, Turner received scholarship offers from North Carolina State University and Florida Atlantic University. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him as their 20th round pick (602nd overall) in the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft. However, Turner chose to play college baseball for the NC State Wolfpack in the NCAA’s Division I Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
In his first year at college in 2012, Turner transitioned from shortstop to third baseman and had a successful season with a .336 batting average and an on-base percentage of .432. Notably, he stole 57 bases that year while only being caught four times. His recorded steals were higher than those of 158 Division I teams combined and set an NC State record. He matched the ACC record for most steals in a single game with five and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team during the 2012 ACC Tournament.
Turner had another exceptional season in 2013 with a batting average of .378, seven home runs, 41 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases. His performance earned him places on both Perfect Game’s second team All-American list and Baseball America’s third team All-American list along with being named to the first team All-ACC. He also became a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award for best NCAA Division I shortstop. In addition to these achievements, Turner represented his country playing for the United States national collegiate baseball team that summer.
In his junior year (2014), he achieved a .321 batting average with eight home runs and 26 stolen bases which led to him receiving the Brooks Wallace Award after demonstrating consistent excellent performance throughout the season.
What is Trea Turner’s professional career like?
What is Trea Turner’s experience in the draft and minor leagues?
Aaron Fitt from Baseball America predicted that Turner would be a top pick in the 2014 MLB draft. His prediction came true when the San Diego Padres chose Turner as their first round, 13th overall, selection. On June 13, Turner officially signed with the team and received a $2.9 million signing bonus. His professional career kicked off three days later with the Eugene Emeralds in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League.
Turner’s performance led to his promotion to Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Class A Midwest League after he had an average of .228 from 26 games for Eugene. With Fort Wayne, he improved significantly by averaging .369 in 46 games. After the regular season ended, he started playing for Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League.
In a twist of events on December 19, 2014, the Padres decided to trade Turner to the Washington Nationals as part of a complex three-team trade deal involving several players and teams. However, due to rules stipulating that a player could not be traded within a year of being drafted, Turner remained with Padres until mid-June 2015.
During Spring training in 2015, despite not being on the roster, Turner was asked to join Padres. He was then assigned to San Antonio Missions in Class AA Texas League where he performed well by scoring .322 with five home runs and stealing bases eleven times while making 35 RBIs for San Antonio. In other news that year, MLB adjusted its trading rules allowing players to be traded within their draft year after World Series concludes.
What About the Philadelphia Phillies?
On December 8, 2022, the Philadelphia Phillies secured Turner for an 11-year commitment worth $300 million. Despite a rocky start to the 2023 season where he only managed a batting average of .235 with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs in his first 107 games, Turner’s fortune took a turn for the better. On August 3rd, sports talk radio station, 94-WIP suggested that Philly Captain give Turner a standing ovation on the following night. This proved to be a turning point for Turner who embarked on a ten-game hitting streak post-ovation. His performance significantly improved over the next 48 games where he boasted an impressive batting average of .337 along with smashing 16 home runs and gathering 42 RBIs.
In an outstanding game against the Washington Nationals on August 19th, Turner made history by becoming only the third player in Phillies history to hit two home runs within one inning — all contributing to their decisive victory of 12–3.
Turner ended his season on a high note by achieving an unprecedented record of stealing bases. He stole thirty bases without being tossed out once during the entire season — breaking the previous record of twenty-three set by Chase Utley in his stint with the Phillies back in 2009.
What is Trea Turner’s international career like?
Turner made a public announcement on August 31, 2022, indicating that he would be part of the team representing the United States in the 2023 World Baseball Classic. Throughout the tournament, Turner performed exceptionally well with a slash line of .391/.440/1.043. He led the US team with an OPS of 1.483 and managed to hit five home runs in just 25 plate appearances. In a quarterfinal match against Venezuela, it was Turner’s grand slam that secured the win for his team. Despite hitting a home run in the championship game, the United States lost to Japan. However, Turner made history by tying the World Baseball Classic record with his five home runs. As the tournament wrapped up, he found himself being selected for the All-Classic Team along with Randy Arozarena – both were unanimous choices for this honor.
What is known about Trea Turner’s personal life?
Turner was born on June 30, 1993, in Boynton Beach, Florida to parents Mark and Donna. He has an older sister named Teal. While attending North Carolina State University, he met his future spouse Kristen Harabedian, who was a gymnast at the university. Harabedian also had a background in high school gymnastics and was featured by Sports Illustrated’s ‘Faces in the Crowd’ on January 18, 2010. The couple got married at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Washington D.C., in November 2018. In February 2021, they announced the birth of their first child, a boy. They live in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida during the off-season but previously owned a home in Arlington Virginia before Turner’s trade to the Dodgers.
Controversy arose during the 2018 season when college-era Twitter posts from Turner surfaced that contained derogatory language including anti-gay and mentally disabled slurs. This incident made him the third player whose offensive past tweets were uncovered that month after Josh Hader and Sean Newcomb. Turner expressed remorse for these posts at a press conference prior to the Nationals’ next game, stating his age at the time of posting did not justify his actions.