When the Red Sox signed Justin Turner in the offseason, it was with the idea he would replace J.D. Martinez at DH, play a little third base and first base in a pinch to give players a day off.
Turner instead has been relied upon to play every day for Alex Cora, rotating between DH, first base, second base and third base.
The 38-year-old isn’t the same defender as he once was, but on Friday night, Turner flashed the leather making a great diving play.
With the Sox leading 2–1, Josh Winckowski was summoned to pitch the seventh inning. After allowing back-to-back hits from J.D. Davis and Patrick Bailey, quickly the Sox were in trouble.
The Giants had a chance to tie the game, and manager Gabe Kapler opted to go to his bench and utilized Blake Sabol to pinch hit.
Sabol hammered 96.8 mph slider back up the middle, but it was the veteran Turner who was shaded closer to the second base bag for a double play, that made a tremendous diving play.
Turner dove to his right and then flipped the ball out of his glove to shortstop Yu Chang for the force out at second base.
JT 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pu5rQ41blG
— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 29, 2023
Chang was unable to turn the double play but Turner’s web gem saved a run. Winckowski then struck out the next two hitters (Blake Wisely and Marco Luciano) to escape the late jam and keep the score at 2-1.
“I was joking earlier, I’m glad it wasn’t too low and I didn’t have to bend over too far,” Turner said. “Some people think I can’t get down there anymore. But it ended up being a pretty big play and (Winckowski) did a pretty good job of pitching his way out of the rest of the inning.”
Cora told reporters that Turner would play second base at least once a series prior to the Cubs three-game set. On Friday night, Turner played second base in back-to-back games, albeit there was a day off built in between on the Sox schedule.
Turner hadn’t started a game at second base since 2015, but the move to play him there was more to impact the lineup than the defense. Boston is looking to maximize its best lineup and playing the red-hot Turner there allows Cora to pencil Jarren Duran, Adam Duvall, Masataka Yoshida and Alex Verdugo in the same lineup.
“We’ve been talking about it for a while,” Cora said about Turner playing second base. “This is not an ‘Alex’ decision. I asked a few weeks ago about the pros and cons. They felt like we should be OK. He’s going to make every play, the routine play, and he’s going to turn double plays. He understands the game. He knows where he has to go. We should be fine. If you look at the ground balls that (Bello) gets on a nightly basis, there’s a lot of routine ground balls to second base.
“This is not a leap of faith or, ‘Here we go, let’s get our best hitters out there.’ We’ve been talking about defense the whole time, the whole season. We’re not gonna just go out there and put a guy at second base who we don’t believe can make plays. He’ll be OK. It gives us flexibility, too, to move guys around during the game, which is important.”
Turner has been more than “OK” at the position, but not having played second base in over a decade, he’s building his manager’s confidence game in and game out.
“Knowing it’s not going to be an everyday thing, on days I’m out there, I make sure I go out there and get my work and be as prepared as possible. Then I go out there, enjoy it and have fun and play the game.
“It has been a lot of fun.”
Turner used to play second base prior to shifting to third base regularly with the Dodgers back in 2014. He would make a guest appearance here or there at the position but has primarily played third throughout his career.
“Obviously, we know that his range is limited but what he touches, most of the time, he turns into outs,” Cora said. “He plays hard and he’s in tune with the game. It was a great play and then Winc took care of the rest.”
“He works at it... He understands where we’re at. We do our best to have our best offensive lineup on a nightly basis... Whatever we can get from him on the field is a plus. So far, it has been good.”
Teams inquiring about Red Sox’ Justin Turner ahead of the trade deadline
The MLB trade deadline is on Aug. 1 and the Red Sox have already moved on from veteran Kiké Hernández. Despite trading Hernández, the club is considered a buyer by both the beat writers and national reporters.
Boston enters Friday night’s three-game series opener against the Giants just 1.5 games out of the last wild-card spot. The surging Red Sox have won 22 of their last 34, but that hasn’t stopped opposing clubs from asking about the availability of Turner.
“Teams that have asked Red Sox about Justin Turner have been told there is no interest in dealing him,” per WEEI’s Rob Bradford.
Turner has had strong year for Boston, the 38-year-old is hitting .286 with 108 hits, 24 doubles, 16 homers, 66 RBI, four stolen bases and .832 OPS.
HE DON'T MISS. 😤 pic.twitter.com/e2N21iFRtL
— Red Sox (@RedSox) July 27, 2023
His leadership has transformed the Red Sox clubhouse, he’s been surprisingly versatile. Outside of Rafael Devers, Turner has been one of the most consistent batters in the Sox lineup.
The veteran knows how important it is for his team to play winning baseball. Turner is excited for this time of year and the possibility of some additions to help Boston towards the postseason.
“It’s a weird time of year,” Turner said to MassLive. “We know where we’re at, right in the hunt, not too far back in the wild card and thinking there might be a few additions that could really help us. At the same time, additions mean subtractions. The guys who are in this clubhouse, as exciting as it may be, it always comes at the expense of someone who’s already in the room. It’s tough. I know fans love it and they want to see us make a big splash and a big move. But the human aspect of it, for the guys in this room, can be tough.”
Boston’s stance on not trading Turner signals the club’s focus on buying at the deadline. The Red Sox roster might look different come Aug. 1, but Turner will be with the club for the remainder of the playoff push.
Trevor Story reacts to the Kiké Hernández trade on Tuesday
When the Red Sox moved on from Kiké Hernández on Tuesday afternoon, word began to spread around the WooSox clubhouse.
Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story who was beginning his rehab with the WooSox was asked his opinion of the Hernández trade and what he was like as a teammate during his time in Boston.
“Great teammate, man, one of the first guys to reach out to me when I signed… even before that he was big into recruiting me here,” Story said to BostonSportsJournal.
“I played against him a lot in LA, he was always coming up with big hits. I think that’s just what he’s done over his career. Really good all around player, brings a lot of value on defense in a lot of different places and comes up big at the dish.
“I can’t say anything bad about him, great teammate, he’s someone that keeps it loose… a fun guy to be around,” added Story.
Boston traded the utility infielder to the Dodgers, per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal and Fabian Ardaya. Boston will receive two minor league relievers, right-handers Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman, per MassLive’s Chris Cotillo.
The Red Sox will pay $2.5 million of Hernández’s remaining salary, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe.
Hernández struggled both offensively and defensively with the Red Sox this season. In 86 games, he’s hit .222 with 66 hits, six homers, 31 RBI, three stolen bases and a .599 OPS. The 31-year-old has the lowest WAR (-1.4) of any major leaguer who has played this season, per FanGraphs.
Hernández played 313 games with the Red Sox and hit .234 with 32 homers, 136 RBI and owned a .690 OPS over three seasons. He had memorable moments during the 2021 postseason run while hitting .408 with five homers and nine RBI with a 1.260 OPS.
The versatile Hernández emerged as an elite center fielder during his time with the Sox. This past season, he was abysmal at shortstop 15 errors, 14 of them from shortstop.
Robertson and Hagenman reported to the WooSox and both made their organization debut on Friday night.
Hagenman came pitched in relief for WooSox lefty Shane Drohan and pitched a perfect seventh inning. He got a flyout, groundout and a strikeout to end the frame. Former Red Sox top prospect Jeter Downs was Hagenman’s strikeout victim to end the inning.
Prior to the game, Hagenman told Boston Sports Journal that he was excited for his new opportunity with the Red Sox organization and the opportunity to potentially pitch at Fenway Park.
Robertson, who was ranked as the Dodgers' No. 25 prospect by Baseball America at the time of the deal relieved Hagenman. His introduction into the Sox system didn’t go as planned as Rochester RedWings batter Jack Dunn crushed the second pitch thrown into the left field berm.
Nick Robertson’s ranks in the hitter-friendly AAA Pacific Coast League (min. 20 IP):
— Ryan Medeiros (@RRyanmedeiros) July 25, 2023
2.54 ERA — 10th
2.95 FIP — 2nd
0.99 WHIP — 6th
37.5 K% — 3rd
13.34 K/9 — 6th
17.1 SwStr% — 2nd
4.67 K/BB — 4th
.184 AVG — 10th
Solid acquisition by the #RedSox.pic.twitter.com/hdRa2jMrYP
The tall right-hander gave up a single and then finally settled down recording two groundouts and getting a strikeout to end the inning.
Robertson, 25, was drafted by the Dodgers in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft. He made his major league debut this season after dominating in Triple-A. The righty pitched to a 2.54 ERA, 42 strikeouts in 28 ⅓ innings, he struggled in the majors posting a 6.10 ERA in 10 ⅓ innings.
Hagenman, 26, has a 2.78 ERA while striking out 60 batters in 55 innings at Triple-A this year, with five of his 25 appearances are starts.
“I am excited to get both of them,” said Bloom on the TC & Company Podcast. “You never have enough pitching, these guys being in the upper levels, Nick (Robertson) getting a taste of the big leagues, were excited to what they can bring to the table.”