Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Trea Turner plays baseball with flair and swag.
We often focus on Ronald Acuna Jr., Fernando Tatis Jr., Carlos Correa, and other similarly talented players who celebrate homers and key plays in style, but Turner makes these plays with style.
Known for his extremely cool and smooth slides at home plate, it turns out Turner can make outs in a cool way, too.
“Trea broke out the smooth slide on a catch!” MLB tweeted, with a surprised emoji.
Trea broke out the smooth slide on a catch! 😱 pic.twitter.com/2R29LY3Mr4
— MLB (@MLB) July 22, 2022
The play itself was extremely impressive: it shows just how much range he has, aided by his incredible, game-changing speed but also with some excellent positioning and a great route.
An Underrated Fielder
Defense is truly an underrated part of Turner’s game: we often focus on how good he is at the plate and on the basepaths, but he is also an impact fielder at a premium position.
That’s why he will likely earn a very rich contract when he enters the market after the season.
The shortstop will be a free agent after the World Series, and while he has said he would like to return to Los Angeles, anything can happen.
For now, he is focused on winning the World Series for the first time with the Dodgers.
He already has a World Series ring, in 2019, from back when he was a member of the Washington Nationals.
In 2022, he is hitting .307/.354/.495 with 14 home runs and 17 stolen bases.
Oh, and he also grades positively in Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) per 150 innings, with 7.2.
In addition to his obvious baseball gifts, he also gives us a highlight reel catch or slide ever once in a while.
He makes the game fun, and that’s the kind of player people love.
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