"Turner is a d*** dog; 'bout to get paid", "Even his bat drop is drippy" - Los Angeles Dodgers fans thrilled as Trea Turner opens his 2022 postseason with a two-run home run

With the dissatisfaction he has shown about how his season turned out, Los Angeles Dodgers star Trea Turner hasn't wasted any time turning things around.

The All-Star shortstop opened his 2022 postseason account with a solo home run in the very first inning of Game 1 of the National League Series against the San Diego Padres.

Turner hit a blast to deep left field off Padres pitcher Mike Clevinger. He ended the game on Tuesday (October 11) by going 2-for-4 with the aforementioned home run, a double, an RBI, and two runs scored.

Los Angeles Dodgers fans, meanwhile, raved about the shortstop's performance. One of them wrote on Twitter:

Trea Turner is about to hit the free agency market after the 2022 season. With the All-Star caliber season he's had and a hot start to the postseason, he's certainly made a compelling argument for a huge pay day come the negotiation period.

Earlier this year, Turner and the Dodgers agreed to a $21 million contract in the former's final arbitration year. It could be a mad dash between several teams to sign the two-time All-Star should he decide to leave the bright lights of Los Angeles. Some fans are even claiming a stake in signing him.

Turner would bring incredible caliber and proficiency on both sides of the ball. Any team that captures his signature will likely be boosting their playoff chances immediately.

Trea Turner's postseason stats

For all the stellar statistics that Trea Turner has shown during the regular season, he has quite a skeptical statistical output come the postseason.

The All-Star shortstop is making his fifth postseason appearance this year. So far, he has failed to translate his proficiency in the regular season to the playoffs.

Turner has a career slash line of .302/.355/.487 during the 162-game season. Those statistics are severely downgraded when looking at his playoff slash line of .234/.279/.316.

Across 171 postseason at-bats, Turner has only two home runs (including the one he hit against the Padres), seven RBIs, eight doubles, and five stolen bases.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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