The Ryan Zimmerman injury has allowed Dusty Baker to put together an infield with Trea Turner at 2nd base and Daniel Murphy at 1st base.
FanGraphs has rated Murphy’s best defensive position as 1st base, and Trea Turner has been excellent at 2nd base on defensive range.
On offense we have seen what distinguishes Turner from other players as he can manufacture runs as a one man speed demon. Yesterday, Turner legged out an infield single on a routine grounder to the shortstop. After a Taylor single, Turner stood on 2nd base and waited for his opportunity. You don’t ever want to be the first out at 3rd base which kept Turner patient. When Murphy popped up for out number one, it was time to steal 3rd with Bryce Harper in the batter’s box.
Turner picked his spot and took off for 3rd and Taylor for 2nd. Turner easily swiped 3rd base. Harper had two on the pond, and his job was to send one deep which he did—-easily scoring Turner on a Sacrifice Fly. The run was manufactured by Turner’s speed.
In Wednesday’s game, we saw Turner hit a routine double down the leftfield line that Turner turned into an 11.0 second sprint for a triple. After Espinosa got on base, the pair pulled off the double-steal with Turner sprinting home safely. Turner joins two other Nats who have stolen home which is now a club of three along with Bryce Harper and Ian Desmond.
Ryan Zimmerman is set to come off of the disabled list on Tuesday. Do the Nationals send Trea Turner back to Triple-A Syracuse or do they send Michael Taylor? Possibly a trade is in the works to open up a spot.
When Zimmerman returns, how long does Dusty Baker give Zimmerman to show he is the best option? Time is running short as the sprint to the finish line starts soon.
While the Nats closest competitors in the NL East are preparing for ways to improve at the deadline, it seems that the Nats have some very interesting internal candidates like Trea Turner who can improve this team.
Dusty Baker can tell you again and again that “speed kills” but expect Dusty to return to his traditional line-up which has relied on home runs to score runs. Enjoy these next few games with Trea Turner at 2nd base because we don’t know when we will see it again.
