Trea Turner is back in a serious groove, and it may be just in time for him to take home some serious hardware.
Since a 21-game run where he hit an anemic .165, dropping his season average from .347 to .297, he has turned it on again, going 10-for-17 in the 4-game series against the Nationals and claiming NL Player of the Week honors.
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He has boosted his average on the season to .311, which would be good enough to lead the National League, except for one thing: he doesn’t currently have enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title.
Players need at least 3.1 plate appearances per team game played to qualify. The Phillies have played 124 games entering tonight’s season opener against the Braves. That would mean Turner needs 385 PA to qualify. He is currently at 374 – 11 PA shy right now, due to missing 38 games in May and June to a left hamstring strain.
If he remains healthy, he will most likely reach that 3.1 PA/game rate. If he had enough to qualify now, he would lead the NL with a .311 average, a marginal lead over Marcell Ozuna of the Braves (.309).
Turner won the NL hitting crown in 2021, splitting his season between the Nationals and Dodgers, with a .328 average.
Should Turner lead the league, he’d be the first Phillies player to do so since Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn won his second NL batting title with a .350 average. He also won in 1955, hitting .338.