Seeking consistency, Trea Turner recalls his 2021 season: ‘It’s like imitating somebody when you’re a kid’

Trea Turner did not play in Wednesday’s game against the Miami Marlins. Manager Rob Thomson gave his shortstop a day off, amid one of the worst slumps of his career. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t productive.

Turner spent that day reviewing tape of his at-bats from 2020-2021, when he felt at his best. He often references 2021 when he’s talking about how he’s feeling at the plate. When Turner worked through his slump last year, he told hitting coach Kevin Long he hadn’t felt as locked in since that 2021 season.

It’s a bit of a north star for him, and it’s a good one to have. Turner split that year between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers, who acquired him at the trade deadline that season, and led baseball in batting average (.328) and hits (195). He collected 319 total bases and averaged a .911 OPS.

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But most of all, what he sees when he looks back at that year is consistency.

“I felt like I was more consistent then,” Turner said. “I talked about it a lot when I signed here, [about] just being consistent. And I felt like since I’ve been here, when I’m going good, it’s been really, really good, but when I’m going bad, it’s been pretty bad. And that wasn’t really the case for most of my career. I was more in the middle.

“So, just looking at different things and trying to figure out how to hit the ball the other way. When I tell myself to hit the ball the other way, it doesn’t necessarily come out that way. So I worked a lot yesterday on doing that, and certain things, because in 2021 I did really good job of that.”

One major difference Turner pointed to was that in 2021, he stayed more closed off. His hands were positioned slightly different. So, before Thursday’s game, he decided to do exactly what he saw on video. He positioned his hands differently and stayed more closed.

Sure enough, it worked — at least for one game. Turner went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and one strikeout against the Nationals on Thursday. His single in the bottom of the seventh came off his bat at 109 mph.

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“Just kind of turning in more a little bit and starting there, and not really thinking about rotating at all,” Turner said. “It was three years ago, so I don’t necessarily remember everything I was thinking at the time. I’m just going off of what I see on video.

“It’s almost imitating somebody, like when you’re a kid, swinging like Ken Griffey Jr. I’m still working on it. Just trying to do what I see on video, really.”

It was one game in a 162-game season, but he was encouraged.

“I think just my at-bats in general, I felt like I saw the ball a little better, made good decisions,” Turner said. “I had that changeup down and away and stayed on it, hit the double [in the fourth]. That 2-0 slider that I hit to left field [in the fifth] and got out on it — I wasn’t even really looking for, I just reacted.

“Stuff like that is a really good sign. Same thing in that last at-bat. I wasn’t really trying to hit the ball the other way, per se, but when I’m doing that I’m kind of at my best. And I feel like I’ve fouled off for the last month. And to hit it where it should go and be in that position, I feel that’s when the at-bat should be over. And that’s kind of what I’ve been missing for a month. So I’m going to stick with that going forward and we’ll see where that goes.”

Outfielder Austin Hays (left hamstring strain) took batting practice on the field on Friday. Thomson said he was at about 80-90 percent. Hays will hit again on Saturday in a simulation game against Ranger Suárez, who is on the injured list with lower back soreness. Suárez is expected to throw 80 total pitches.