Can Trea Turner be one of the greatest shortstops in Phillies’ history?

When he arrived as a free agent in December 2022 on an 11-year, $300 million deal, Turner was seen as the missing piece toward another World Series title.

Over the two-plus years Turner has been at shortstop, his status has been accepted as lukewarm, notably for his fielding. Yet, most Phillies’ fans are waiting for Turner to raise to an MVP level with his high ceiling.

Can we mention Turner in the same breath as Jimmy Rollins, Larry Bowa or Granny Hamner?

In this week’s version of my Behind the Plate column, I will take a look at Turner’s Phillies’ position, his career, and his stance among his peers.

In addition, I’ll also take a look around the game’s past and present, and recall a former Pleasant Valley standout who extended his career to Shippensburg University.

Also, how did the seventh-inning stretch start?

Tight on Turner ... Coming into this season, the 31-year-old Turner has been on the burner.

Last season, Turner hit .295 with 21 homers, 62 RBIs, and swiped 19 bases. He had an OPS of .807 and an OBP of .338. Turner capped it with an All-Star selection.

For most major leaguers, it would be a satisfying season. For Turner and most Phillies’ fans, it was an average or slightly above average year.

Heading into a significant series in Atlanta tonight, Turner leads the league in hits with 96, and is batting .299 to go along with 19 stolen bases.

Offensively, Turner is projected to hit .277 with 19 homers and 66 RBIs.

Defensively, Turner has committed five errors, which is in the bottom quarter of the league.

The real stigma hanging over Turner is his $300 million price tag, similar to Juan Soto’s $765 million deal in New York.

Big money brings big expectations.

Consistency has been Turner’s biggest criticism. He began the season hitting over .300, but dipped to .217 in mid-April. But since early May, Turner’s average hasn’t slipped under .294.

Still, it’s hard to dismiss Turner’s current numbers, as he has the third best average among all starting shortstops behind the A’s Jacob Wilson (.345) and the Astros’ Jeremey Pena (.324); is tied with a number of players for seventh in homers, and his 19 steals rank only behind the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. (21) and the Reds’ Elly De La Cruz (21).

Turner’s average with runners in scoring position is .295 with 22 RBIs, six walks, and 12 strikeouts.

It’s still relatively early in the season, and there’s plenty of time for his season to play itself out.

The Road to Philly ... In his final year with the Dodgers, Turner had a career-high 708 plate appearances with 21 homers, 100 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases with 16 errors. During the previous season with the Dodgers and Nationals, Turner had 28 homers, 77 RBIs, a .328 average, 32 stolen bases and a career-high 195 hits.

Many of you may have forgotten that Turner broke into the majors with Washington in 2015, initially being the Padres’ top pick in the 2014 draft. Ironically, Turner was traded to the Nationals nine days later.

Over his seven seasons in Washington, Turner hit 93 homers, knocked in 306 runs, stole 192 bases, and batted a combined .300.

Turner was sent by the Nationals to the Dodgers along with Max Scherzer for four minor leaguers on July 30, 2021.

Through the years, Turner has been an offensive machine. He led the majors in batting average (.328 in 2021), played in 162 games while leading the majors in at-bats (2018), paced baseball in total hits (2020 COVID year with 78, and 2021), and twice led in stolen bases (2018, 2021). Turner also has hit at least 20 homers three times in the last four seasons.

At 31, though, Turner is part of a Phillies’ core whose championship window is narrowing with teammates in the early-to-late-30s range.

Roll-ins Call ... To many, Rollins is considered the premier shortstop in club history. Bowa can also be considered in the conversation, along with Whiz Kid Hamner.

Like Turner, Rollins was scrutinized in his first full season in 2001 when he hit .274 with 14 homers, 54 RBIs, and led the league in stolen bases (46), triples (12), and plate appearances (656).

Rollins’ production slipped the following year, as he batted just .245, but he led the league in triples again (10). In his third season, he hit .263 and was an All-Star for the second straight year.

For his career, Rollins’ highest hit total in a single season was 196. What may be forgotten is that he committed 14 errors in each of his first three seasons.

Your Thoughts ... In the Facebook poll, 26 percent of the voting audience believe Turner could be considered as one of the Phillies’ all-time great shortstops.

However, surprisingly, 74 percent of the voters don’t think Turner will ever be among the great Phillies’ shortstops.

Readers Write

Turner-ing the Corner

Dear Jeff,

Turner is not there yet. As a Dodgers’ fan, I hated losing him. I love his style of play.

Paul Dallara

Hawley

Left It in LA

Dear Jeff,

He (Turner) commits too many errors and is inconsistent at the plate. He may have been great as an LA Dodger, but he is only mediocre in Philly.

Melissa Hammer Hager

Lehighton

Even the Losers ... Or Winners? ... The Mets recently endured a stretch of 10 losses in 11 games. Still viewed as potential World Series entrants, the Mets’ streak could hamper their chance to reach the Fall Classic.

The 2005 Astros (lost to the White Sox) and the 2006 Cardinals (defeated the Tigers) were the only two teams to get to a World Series with the same streak during their regular seasons.

When White Sox Fit the Right Way ... It’s hard to believe that the White Sox won the World Series 20 years ago in 2005 with a four-game sweep of the Astros (see above).

Jermaine Dye was the Series MVP, as he hit .438. Carl Everett followed that with a .444 average, and the Sox hit .286 as a team. Frank Thomas, who was 37 at the time, played only 12 games that year due to a fractured foot.

Ex-Phillies Freddie Garcia, Jose Contreras, and Jon Garland — a 2.57 ERA in the series — highlighted the starters.

Lance Berkman hit .385, and Willy Taveras was at .333 for the Astros. Chad Qualls had a 1.64 ERA in relief.

Roger Clemens, who was 43, led a staff with ex-Phils Roy Oswalt, Russ Springer, and Brad Lidge.

Ozzie Guillen managed the White Sox, and Phil Garner guided the Astros. Guillen was in his second season in an eight-year run in Chicago, and Garner was in his second of four years in Houston.

Scrapbook ... Each column, I’ll glance back at a former high school and/or college standout from our coverage area.

Chad Stecker was a three-year starter and four-year player for Pleasant Valley. During his time with the Bears, the infielder/outfielder consistently hit over .330 and had a slugging percentage better than .440.

The 2001 Bears’ graduate continued his career at Shippensburg University, where he excelled for four years. In his junior year, Stecker hit .421 with seven homers, 31 RBIs and 25 stolen bases with a .486 OBP, a .620 slugging percentage, and a 1.106 OPS.

Overall, Stecker hit .365 with 13 homers, 98 RBIs, and 65 stolen bases. He had an OBP of .435, a slugging percentage of .514, and a OPS of .948.

Stretching the Point ... When I was at a recent IronPigs game, I asked my nephew about the “seventh-inning stretch.” I never heard the history behind it, and wondered why we would stand to stretch at that point in the game.

Here are three popular theories:

It was done for fans needing to relieve themselves or stretch their legs after sitting through several innings;

There was the superstition of the “Lucky Seventh,” where fans believed standing in the seventh inning would bring good luck;

Another theory credits President William Howard Taft for popularizing the tradition after he stood up to stretch during a game in 1910, and the crowd followed suit.

My mindset is stretching after the fourth inning, which basically is half the game. Why should we wait until there are two innings left in the game to stretch?

Your thoughts are always welcomed and will be published; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com