The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered a major blow near the end of Spring Training when All-Star third baseman Justin Turner suffered a fractured left wrist that would ultimately keep him sidelined for the first six weeks of the regular season.
The club treaded water in Turner’s absence before he officially made his 2018 debut on May 15 against the Miami Marlins. While the 33-year-old has since managed to stay on the field for the most part, he hasn’t yet been able to find consistency at the plate.
Moreover, soreness crept into the wrist, causing Turner to miss three consecutive games and four of the last five. He’s expected to return to the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Atlanta Braves but won’t be 100 percent.
Turner believes that some days will be better than the others until his left wrist completely heals, via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
“Everyone I’ve talked to who’s done it before said there’s probably going to be a few months of dealing with crap,” Turner said. “Really, it’s been almost three months [since the injury] and yesterday was the first time it’s really flared up. You can’t be too disappointed about it, but I think there’s going to be good days and bad days until it completely goes away.”
Turner was first held out of the lineup on Tuesday with wrist soreness in the opener of series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
In 19 games this season, Turner is hitting a relatively mild .243/.325/.343 (85 OPS+) over 80 trips to the plate with four doubles, one home run and 10 RBI.
That’s compared to a tremendous .322/.415/.530 (150 OPS+) slash line from a year ago in which he additionally accumulated 53 extra-base hits en route to his first career All-Star nod.
Even while he may be searching to match success from previous seasons, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has made it clear how much of an impact and value Turner’s mere presence has.
