Prior to the 2014 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers inked Justin Turner to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training. At the time, the signing was merely viewed as veteran competition for a potential utility role on the Opening Day roster.
Turner, who at the time had parts of five seasons of Major League experience under his belt, was non-tendered by the New York Mets at the end of the 2013 season. That year, he hit .280/.319/.385 with 16 extra-base hits in 214 plate appearances.
The Long Beach, Calif. native went on to earn a spot on the 25-man roster for the Dodgers, and the rest was history. In four seasons with Los Angeles, Turner has slashed .303/.378/.502 with 113 doubles, five triples and 71 home runs.
He has also accumulated 18.3 WAR (FanGraphs) during the span — good for 17th-most in the league since 2014.
Former Mets manager Terry Collins, whose time in New York overlapped with that of Turner’s, recently weighed in on his resurgence since signing with the Dodgers, via Scott Miller of Bleacher Report:
“He hit some homers when he was here, but what this guy has done is amazing,” Collins, the now-former Mets manager, says. “I think the world of him. He always was a good player. Even as a backup guy, he was tremendous off the bench…and when he had that bat in his hands, he was dangerous.”
Since departing New York, Turner has made life difficult for his previous club. In 92 career plate appearances against the Mets, he’s batting .296/.370/.605 with seven doubles, six home runs and 16 RBI.
A first-time All-Star in 2017, Turner enjoyed arguably his best season since becoming an everyday player in 2015. In 543 plate appearances over 130 games, he hit .322/.415/.530 with 32 doubles, 21 home runs and 70 RBI.
Already a pillar in the franchise, Turner further etched his name in Dodger lore by clubbing a walk-off, three-run home run in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series. It came 29 years to the day Kirk Gibson hit a walk-off homer in the World Series.
Furthermore, Turner’s career .449 batting average in the NL Division Series is highest in MLB history for players who have tallied a minimum of 50 plate appearances.
