When Justin Turner was hit by a pitch Wednesday night it marked a fourth consecutive game he was plunked, setting a Los Angeles Dodgers franchise record and tying the organization’s all-time mark.
Hughie Jennings was also hit in four consecutive games from Sept. 6-20, 1900, while playing for Brooklyn. It was the only full season Jennings spent with Brooklyn, as he also played for the club during parts of the 1899 and 1903 campaigns.
Jennings was hit by a pitch 40 times in 791 plate appearances over 188 games during those three seasons. Jennings stands as MLB’s all-time record holder in being hit 287 times in his 18-year career.
Former Dodgers infielder Chase Utley is eighth overall with 204. Turner is not anywhere near the top of the list, but he’s been a magnet of sorts during his time with the Dodgers.
Turner enters Friday’s series finale having been hit by a pitch seven times in 176 plate appearances over 41 games this season. Alex Gordon, Jeff McNeil and Anthony Rizzo are tied for the Major League lead with eight.
Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres pitching staffs have both hit Turner twice, while the Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs are responsible for one each. Given the frequency at which it’s taken place, Turner has been hit in multiple spots.
He’s recently taken pitches off his bicep, forearm, elbow and back of the shoulder. Turner is on pace to break a career high set in 2017 when he was hit by a pitch 19 times in 543 plate appearances across 130 games.
That season he also led the Dodgers in HBP and finished second in the National League. The Dodgers are first in the Majors with 24 hit by pitches, and Joc Pederson is on Turner’s heels with six.
Russell Martin is third on the team with three, Austin Barnes has been hit twice, and Cody Bellinger, Kiké Hernandez, A.J. Pollock, Corey Seager, Chris Taylor and Alex Verdugo have each worn one.
Verdugo’s came during Wednesday’s win against the Padres and not long after he’d given Turner a bit of a hard time. “I was like, ‘JT, I shouldn’t have messed with you. I should have never talked to you about it,'” Verdugo said.
Despite the frequency by which he’s been plunked over the past few seasons, Turner has simply chalked it up to being part of the game and an aspect he’s grown accustomed to.
Of course, he and the Dodgers would like to avoid a relapse of Spring Training last year when Turner was hit and suffered a fractured left wrist that cost him the first six weeks of the 2018 season.
