The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of elimination in the National League Championship Series and won’t have franchise stalwart Justin Turner moving forward as he is expected to miss the remainder of the postseason with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain.
Turner sustained the injury while attempting to beat out a double play in the bottom of the seventh inning. He began to limp after sprinting halfway down the first-base line and walked gingerly off the field with Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and trainer Yosuke “Possum” Nakajima.
Turner then was assisted down the dugout steps by Albert Pujols so he could go into the Dodgers clubhouse. “Obviously very disappointed,” Roberts said of Turner’s mood in the clubhouse.
The TBS broadcast repeatedly alluded to Turner suffering from hamstring trouble throughout the NLCS, though neither he or the club publicly revealed as much. Turner was out of the lineup for Game 2 because of a neck stinger, but he did make a pinch-hit appearance in the loss.
Normally a standout in October, Turner’s postseason has effectively come to an end with an uncharacteristic .118/.211/.206 batting line. Turner slugged a crucial home run in the Wild Card Game, which was his lone extra-base hit in the playoffs.
Options to replace Turner figure to be Andy Burns, Zach McKinstry, Billy McKinney or Luke Raley, among others.
Turner was optimistic slump would end
With a proven track record and live-in-the-moment mindset, Turner met with media prior to Game 3 and downplayed any concern with his slump moving forward. “I think it’s just baseball,” he said.
“I think you go through ups and downs. Obviously it’s not ideal at this point in the season to not be getting results, but you just keep showing up and keep working and keep grinding through it and trust the process.
“You take a look at the season that Bellinger’s had and there’s a lot of negative stuff out there about what he did. Now you look at him in the postseason and you can basically say he’s single-handedly the reason we’re in this position right now that we’re in.
“So it’s just part of the season. There’s ups and downs, and you just continue to trust the process, continue to show up and keep working.”
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