Washington Nationals: 2017 NLDS Tale of the Tape

Shortstop: Trea Turner vs. Addison Russell

Turner didn’t get a chance to play in the second Cubs series this year after Pedro Strop hit him with a pitch on June 29 that broke his wrist and caused him to miss about two months. Despite that amount of missed time, Turner has had a great season.

In just 95 games, Turner hit .284 with 11 home runs, 45 RBI’s, and stole 46 bases in 54 attempts. Out of those 44 steals, seven of them came against the Cubs (four of them on June 27).

Turner uses his speed at the top of the order to jumpstart the offense, but his bat is on the right track heading into the postseason. He has hit .297 with 17 extra-base hits since the All-Star break. This includes eight doubles in the month of September.

It has been a rough season on and off the field for Russell. He played in 1110 games and had 12 home runs to 43 RBI’s. He did miss about a month in August due to a foot strain, but the young shortstop has had his fair share of clutch hits this year.

Last week, Russell’s three-run home run against the St. Louis Cardinals helped the Cubs clinch the NL Central division title. He only had five at-bats against the Nats in the regular season and did not get a hit in any of those AB’s.

Advantage: In a down year for Russell, Turner gets the edge in this matchup because of his speed, defense, and the multiple ways that he can impact a game. Let’s just say the Cubs better make sure they keep the Nats shortstop off the bases or they might be seeing him on second or third a lot. The edge goes to the Washington Nationals.