Trea Turner is playing the best baseball of his postseason career — and he’s doing it in a dream environment

Last offseason, when Trea Turner was a free agent, he would tune in to the Phillies’ postseason run. He liked what he saw. The team chemistry was palpable. So was the chemistry between the fans and the players. The crowd noise was deafening, even through his TV. It seemed like everyone in Philadelphia was hanging on every pitch and every hit.

He’d played in 43 postseason games at that point, but this environment seemed different. He wanted to be part of it. About a year later, he is, and it has lived up to his expectations.

“I’ve been in loud stadiums a lot in my career,” said Turner, who played for the Washington Nationals’ 2019 World Series champions as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers before signing with the Phillies. “I’ve been lucky to play in the postseason a lot. But there’s something different about this place. The pressure that they put on the other team. The hostile environment.

“I feel like I can see those moments where something speeds up for the other team when they play here.”

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In the seventh inning Tuesday night, Bryson Stott hit an infield pop-up. Diamondbacks third baseman Evan Longoria, catcher Gabriel Moreno, and relief pitcher Ryne Nelson went running toward it, looked up, looked at each other, and saw the ball hit the grass. Longoria is a three-time Gold Glove winner. He doesn’t make many defensive mistakes. But he did Tuesday, and it made Turner wonder if the crowd was at play.

“More often than not, it happens on their side,” Turner said. “Little mistakes. You start to wonder, ‘Was that the crowd?’ Whether it was a walk or an error or somebody chasing a ball in the dirt off of somebody. Whatever it is. And you start to think, ‘That must be the crowd.’”

It would be impossible to prove, but with a crowd this active, it’s worth wondering. There is a different kind of intensity to a playoff game in Philadelphia. The crowd is willing the visitors to make a mistake. When a pop-up is hit, they root for you to drop it. When a count is 3-2, they root for you to throw ball four.

“I keep talking about how engaged the crowd is in what’s going on,” Turner said. “I’m really impressed with that. It’s not always that way.”

This has been a special postseason for Turner, in more ways than one. He feels like he’s playing the best baseball he’s ever played in October. The numbers back that up. Turner has been one of the Phillies’ most consistent hitters over the last two weeks. He’s hit .500/.559/.967 with a 1.526 OPS over his last eight games. He’s hit three home runs over that span, which is more than he’s ever hit in any of his previous playoff runs.

He has an eight-game hitting streak since the Phillies’ first playoff game on Oct. 3, and has stolen four bases over that span. It’s a stark contrast from some of his earlier playoff appearances. Turner hit .238/.279/.335 over those first 43 playoff games. He hit only three home runs. He struggled with injuries, which impacted his performance.

Now, he’s healthy, and locked in — at the perfect time for the Phillies.

“I played in the postseason a lot early on in my career when I didn’t feel like I was as good of a player,” he said. “And in the middle of my career, I was hurt a lot in the postseason. Broken hands and fingers and different things. But now I’m healthy and feeling good.”