WATCH: Philadelphia Phillies fans give a struggling $300,000,000 Trea Turner a standing ovation during his first at-bat
Philadelphia Phillies slugger Trea Turner has not been himself this season. He is struggling this year, hitting .235/.290/.368 after an All-Star season with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year.
Despite his struggles, Philadelphia fans still have his back. As he made his way to the plate on Friday in a matchup against the Kansas City Royals, he received a standing ovation.
Philadelphia fans give Trea Turner a standing ovation to show that they still support him through his tough season pic.twitter.com/fkSb14wRcQ
This was a planned effort orchestrated by The Philly Captain on X (Twitter). He called for fans attending a game over the weekend to cheer on Turner instead of booing him. It picked up steam, receiving 263 reposts and 2,138 likes.
Let’s give Trea Turner a standing ovation this weekend.
#Phillies #trea #baseball #philly pic.twitter.com/4ZmBX7ZdZM
This is a great thing to see for a city known to show tough love to athletes. Turner is obviously in his head, and constant booing will not help him turn it around.
After Thursday night's loss, Turner was in the batting cages until midnight with hitting coach Kevin Long. That shows he is doing everything he can to get hot and help the Philadelphia Phillies win some ball games.
Turner was not pleased with his performance on Thursday and needed to clear his head. Not many athletes stay long after a game to get in extra work. One thing you cannot knock Turner for is his work ethic.
After going 0-for-3 on Thursday, he went 1-for-4 with an RBI on Friday, but it was not enough. The Kansas City Royals went on to win the game 7-5.
Trea Turner and the Philadelphia Phillies do not have an easy road to the postseason
Trea Turner and the Philadelphia Phillies do not have an easy path to the postseason this year. While they are second in the National League East, they are still behind the Atlanta Braves.
They will need to dig deep and hope the Braves will cool off to have a shot at taking over the division lead. Fortunately, Philadelphia currently holds the second National League Wild Card spot. But the Miami Marlins and Arizona Diamondbacks are right on their tails.
The Phillies have a great opportunity to go on a winning streak. They finish a series with the Kansas City Royals over the weekend before taking on the Washington Nationals. Both teams are sub-.500 teams and Philadelphia needs to take advantage of these matchups.