Gripping adjustment instigated Phillies' Trea Turner's stellar turnaround
Trea Turner's turnaround for the Philadelphia Phillies has been one of the feel-good moments of this season. The shortstop repaid the faith of the fans after registering a homer for a fifth consecutive game on Saturday.
It's been almost a month since the star shortstop received a standing ovation from Phillies fans at Citizens Bank Park, showing support for the struggling ace.
The fans' backing did a world of good for the 30-year-old as he is 36-for-100 (.360) with ten homers and 1.168 OPS in the 25 games that followed since August 4's show of support from the Phillies fans.
While the fans deserve praise for showing their support to the 2019 World Series champion, Turner's remarkable hitting stretch began when he fine-tuned his grip.
The 30-year-old revealed that he was gripping the bat harder than usual because of his poor stretch of form at the start of the season. However, once he got back to his usual gripping technique, things have gotten smoother for the two-time All-Star.
“I usually grip the bat pretty loose all the way through my swing,” Turner said on Saturday. “I feel like this year, even times when I thought about being loose, I would grip it harder than I think. So, now it’s just keeping that loose grip as long as possible. It’s kind of the first key that helped me, maybe like 25 games or so, when everything first started at home.”
Trea Turner is turning it on for the Phillies amid postseason push
He admitted that the loose grip allows him more flexibility against the pitchers as he is confident about hitting the variations, and the change has been for everybody to see in recent outings where he is almost hitting everything.
“It’s like being loose but a little calmer,” Turner said. “Loose grip with knowing that [my hands are] going to go down doesn’t allow me to do all this crazy stuff. When I have that loose grip, I can be out in front and hit a changeup, hit a slider, or I can be late and hit a fastball and shoot it the other way.”
Despite his record-setting hitting streak, the Phillies fell to their second consecutive loss against the Milwaukee Brewers, conceding a series loss on Sunday.