After undergoing microfracture knee surgery following the 2015 season, Justin Turner was brought along slowly, even once 2016 Spring Training began. He was limited to fielding drills and batting practice early on, eventually progressing to appearing in Minor League games.
Turner didn’t make his spring debut until the Dodgers’ third week of Spring Training. He hit well, but was slow out of the gate — by his standards — once the 2016 regular season rolled around. Turner eventually found his stride and put together another productive campaign.
According to J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group, Turner credited Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for helping him get back on track:
“He was the one who made the suggestion: ‘look, you’re getting great at-bats, you’re hitting balls hard, you’re just not pulling as many balls as you did the last two years. Maybe you just try to change your sights and get back to left-center.’ ”
Turner finished last season batting .275/.339/.493 with a 34 doubles, 27 home runs, 90 RBI and a 124 OPS+. He set a career high and tied for the team lead in home runs, and tied a career best mark in slugging percentage.
Turner was particularly effective during the second half of 2016, hitting .298/.349/.549 with 18 doubles, 14 home runs and 46 RBI. He put together another solid showing in spring, and said prior to Opening Day that he felt healthy and in a good place at the plate.
Excluding two games played this year, Turner is batting .296/.364/.492 with 81 doubles, 50 home runs, 193 RBI and a 150 OPS+ in three seasons with the Dodgers.
The 32-year-old was one of the team’s key free agents during the offseason, and returned on a four-year, $62 million contract.
