Justin Turner was among several members of the everyday Los Angeles Dodgers lineup to get off to a slow start this season, but much in line with his career, the month of May has brought about improved results.
Heading into the start of the Dodgers’ 10-game road trip, Turner had six doubles, three home runs, 18 RBI and a .744 on-base plus slugging percentage during May. He’s hit safely in seven of the past 10 games, and batted .303/.343/.727 during that stretch.
Most notably, Turner had back-to-back days with a home run to close out the homestand.
“Just constantly tinkering and making adjustments and trying to get good feels in the box,” Turner said after the Dodgers swept the Arizona Diamondbacks.
“And I feel like I’ve slowly been getting closer and closer and closer. I don’t think it’s all the way, you know, perfect yet, but I do feel like I’m in a real position to be able to compete and have a bit of results.”
Turner has previously felt as though he was on the verge of finding his best swing, only to deal with more inconsistency. However, a stretch through Chicago and Pittsburgh has been followed by improved results.
“Just trying to find something that’s sustainable, but I do feel like it’s been pretty consistent since that last road trip,” Turner said.
Roberts not concerned with Turner
If looking at batting average for Turner and other Dodgers, there certainly is room for improvement, but manager Dave Roberts downplayed the notion of solely relying on that one statistic.
“I think the thing is with batting average, it can be misleading because he’s leading our team in runs batted in,” Roberts said. “And the object of the game is to score more than the other team.
“And So Justin, regardless of his batting average, he still doesn’t give away at-bats. He sees pitches, he’ll take his walks, and he can drive in a run and that’s important.”
Roberts had previously dismissed having any concern over Turner’s slow start to the year.
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