Why Trea Turner is striking out at the second-highest rate of his career — and how he’s working through it

DENVER — Trea Turner has not looked like himself lately.

His hitting coach doesn’t need to look at his strikeout rate, an uncharacteristically high 26.3%, to realize this. Kevin Long can tell just based on Turner’s decisions in the box. He’ll swing at pitches he normally takes, and miss pitches he normally hits.

On Friday, in the first inning, Turner took a knuckle curve in the dirt from Rockies starter Austin Gomber. Seconds later, he swung at a knuckle curve in almost the same exact spot to end the at-bat.

“That pitch was even worse and he swung at it,” Long said. “It was almost an identical breaking ball. He took it once and swung at the very next one. Why? It’s confidence. That’s all it is. Pretty soon, he’ll be taking all of those pitches.”

Not all of Turner’s at-bats have gone like this. He sparked a two-out rally in the eighth on Friday, hitting a double after battling back from an 0-2 count. But he isn’t consistently having those types of at-bats.

“I feel like I’ve gotten better, overall, but the consistency is not there yet,” Turner said. “I feel like I do it for an at-bat or two each day, but the other two or three at-bats are eh. Whatever you want to call it, so I think it’s just about being consistent.

“At times I feel really good, it comes for an at-bat and then it goes away, so it’s just that consistency.”

At first glance, Turner’s numbers aren’t bad. He has an 11-game hitting streak and is batting .261. But certain pitches are giving him trouble that he hasn’t struggled with in the past. He’s hitting .159 against four-seam fastballs this season (compared to .302 last year). He’s hitting .063 on curveballs.

Long, who worked with Turner when they were both with the Washington Nationals, says the shortstop hits every pitch well. He believes Turner’s struggles are more mental than anything else.

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“I think the biggest thing for him is feeling relaxed and in control,” Long said. “And I would venture to say that that’s the part that he doesn’t feel as locked in, as relaxed, as in control of his at-bats as he wants to right now.

“If he’s missing a number of pitches in the zone, which he doesn’t do, then that’s the part I’m talking about — he needs to feel confident, feel comfortable in the box. Maybe it’s his first at-bat, he starts swinging at pitches he shouldn’t, and then he starts doubting himself again. When you’re doing good, you could have an at-bat like that and you couldn’t care less. He’s been there.”

Long is confident things will click for Turner soon. They’ve been putting in a lot of work — “every drill you can possibly think of,” Long says — but the real change will come when Turner is able to build positive momentum in games.

“We need like three out of four good at-bats, where we made good decisions,” Long said. “We didn’t miss the pitches we were supposed to hit. Then we’re talking.”

Rob Thomson said that J.T. Realmuto was feeling a “little better” on Saturday. He will be available to play in an emergency situation on Saturday night. … Thomson said that Bryce Harper will throw out to 90 feet on Sunday. … To make room for Ranger Suárez on the active roster, the Phillies sent reliever Luis Ortiz to triple-A Lehigh Valley after Friday’s game.