‘I just want to be a dangerous hitter:’ Why batting-order position doesn’t matter to Phillies leadoff man Trea Turner

CLEARWATER, Fla. — On the morning of Dec. 9, a few hours before the news conference to introduce him as the Phillies’ $300 million shortstop, Trea Turner got a phone call from Kyle Schwarber, who had a question for his old friend and new teammate.

“Where do you prefer to hit in the batting order?”

Schwarber was mostly busting his buddy’s chops. It’s what he and Turner do. Schwarber teases Turner, usually over some non-baseball topic, and Turner returns a well-timed volley. As Schwarber put it Saturday, “I just like to jab at him.”

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But inquiring minds, especially among the Phillies fan base, really did want to know. Because Schwarber fell one homer shy of tying a major-league record last year by hitting 38 of his league-leading 46 home runs from the leadoff spot, Turner has the track-star speed and base-stealing knack of a prototypical leadoff man, and manager Rob Thomson can only place one of them atop what figures to be one of baseball’s best lineups.

So, here it is: When the season opens, Thomson expects to lead off with Turner and put Schwarber behind him in a run-producing spot, citing Turner’s on-base and slugging ability and 84.56% stolen-base rate, fourth-best among active players.

“I’m not sure you can get a better combination than that for a leadoff hitter,” Thomson said.

Maybe the order will flip in late June or July, when Bryce Harper makes it back from Tommy John elbow surgery. Thomson likes separation between his big left-handed power hitters, such as Schwarber leading off and Harper in the cleanup spot. Then again, Thomson also prefers to keep the batting order static.

Regardless, here’s the thing: The leadoff issue matters way more to outsiders than it does to either Turner or Schwarber.

“I feel like it’s been a big deal since I signed,” said Turner, who partook in another voluntary spring-training workout in advance of the first full-squad gathering Tuesday. “I don’t care.”

Schwarber added: “I’m comfortable wherever I hit.”

Most players say that, but Turner and Schwarber have the numbers to back it up. Schwarber has hit literally everywhere — one through nine — in his eight-year major-league career and has an identical .840 OPS in the No. 1 and No. 6 spots.

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And consider Turner’s career average/on-base/slugging in his most frequent spots in the batting order:

“I’m just a big learn-your-job guy,” said Turner, a .302/.355/.487 hitter overall in eight seasons. “I want to know what my job is, what you expect of me. Sometimes it’s hard moving around in the lineup, so wherever I do hit, I like to stick there and learn how pitchers are going to pitch the guy in front of me, the guy behind me. But whatever [spot in the batting order] it is, it is. Just got to learn my job.”

So, Thomson can probably go ahead and bat Turner anywhere in the top half of the lineup. When it comes to the Phillies’ new star, there’s only one rule: Don’t expect him to bunt.

Early in his career, Turner said coaches would advise that he try to bunt more often and utilize his elite speed to beat out hits. But Turner has always viewed himself as a hard-contact hitter who could do more damage with line drives in the gaps than by legging out balls on the ground.

Turner led the league with eight bunt hits in 14 attempts for the Washington Nationals in 2018. But he also got benched for not running out a two-out bunt attempt that bounced fair in a 2018 game in Milwaukee and broke his right index finger after squaring to bunt against then-Phillies pitcher Zach Eflin in 2019.

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“There’s probably always somebody out there that wants me to bunt,” Turner said. “I just always want to be a dangerous hitter. I’m competitive. I want to hit. I want to be up there swinging the bat. That’s one of my favorite things to do, hit a baseball. Probably should bunt more or could bunt more, but I don’t love it.”

Schwarber played with Turner for three months in 2021 before the Nationals traded them to Boston and Los Angeles, respectively. Turner led off for much of that time, but Schwarber moved to the top of the order — with Turner in the No. 2 spot — and went on a home-run binge in June.

Go ahead and ask Schwarber what he admires about Turner as a hitter. Just make sure you have some time.

“The quality of the at-bats, the way that he’s able to put the bat on the ball, the way that he’s able to go the opposite way but also to hit a friggin’ bomb to the pull side, those are all things that stand out,” Schwarber said. “His two-strike approach, where he goes leg kick and has his foot down and he’s able to put the ball where he wants to. And obviously the way he runs where he can beat out some hits.

“We all know the kind of player he is, but we’re excited about the person, too. If there was a fit for a team where a guy would come in and feel like he didn’t miss a beat, it would be him.’ He fits exactly the personalities in here.”

That works in any spot in the lineup.

“The biggest thing is what [Thomson] sees as best for the team,” Schwarber said. “If that’s me batting two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, whatever, I’ll do it. If that’s me being in the leadoff spot, I’ll do it. That’s the way we’re going to go about it.”

With a few good-natured barbs thrown in for good measure.

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