SAN DIEGO — In a strange quirk of his young career, Trea Turner had never played a game at Petco Park before Monday night. He once believed he would play here for years.
When the San Diego Padres drafted Turner in the first round of the 2014 MLB draft, they brought him to Petco Park, and he fell in love with the stadium and the city. Turner is the kind of player who appreciates history, and he wanted to play with one team for his whole career. He thought it would be this one.
Then Washington Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo muscled his way into what was once a two-way trade between the Padres and Tampa Bay Rays, and in so doing plucked Turner and Joe Ross away from San Diego for outfielder Steven Souza in a three-way deal that sent Wil Myers to San Diego. Myers did not play Monday night and has been on the disabled list twice this season. Turner, who played six months in unprecedented purgatory in the Padres’ minor league system as a player-to-be-named-later who was named early, has evolved into a multifaceted offensive threat with plenty of room to grow.
“I’ve always wondered what would have happened if I didn’t get traded. Not that I regret that it happened, but when you start to make those moves in your career, you look back at how things could have been different,” Turner said before the Nationals’ 8-5 win. “I’m sure free agents do the same. It’s fun to think about those things, but I think it worked out for the best.”
Turner homered Monday in his first at-bat at Petco Park. The home run came against Tyson Ross, brother of Joe, who is working his way back from Tommy John surgery — but would probably be a top-of-the-rotation staple of this Padres staff when healthy. They still talk about that deal here, on sports talk radio and in the papers. The fortunes of franchises pivot around deals such as those.
“They have a lot of good guys over there. I played with Franchy [Cordero] for a little bit, Travis [Jankowski], [Hunter] Renfroe. I played with a lot of these guys, and they’re really good people. They have a good staff,” Turner said. “Everywhere I played, they had a great staff that helped me continue to develop.”
Turner is developing into the all-around star the Padres, then the Nationals, thought he would be. Monday, he drew his 23rd walk in 36 games. He drew 30 walks in 98 games last season. He also utilized that game-changing speed, the once-in-a-generation tool Rizzo wanted, by scoring from first on Anthony Rendon’s hard double off the left field wall. Most runners wouldn’t have scored on that play, because the ball bounced back so quickly. Many would not be waved home at all.
Turner headed home with so much speed that his helmet eventually lost its grip, and he scored with a headfirst slide that might as well have been celebratory. He finished with three runs scored and is now second on the team to only Bryce Harper with 21 runs scored this season. He is second in the National League with 12 stolen bases. As the Petco Park scoreboard revealed in its “fun fact” for Turner on Monday, he is already second in Nationals history with 93 stolen bases. Only his predecessor at shortstop, Ian Desmond, has more.
“I think anytime I play [the Padres], it’s a reminder that I was there. Not that it was my decision, but no regrets about anything,” Turner said. “Everything’s worked out great for me individually, and I’m happy to be part of this team.”
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