Washington Nationals: 10 greatest individual seasons
By Ron Juckett
TREA TURNER 2016
Considered a solid prospect, Trea Turner got the permanent call to Washington halfway through the 2016 season.
The Ben Revere experiment in centerfield turned into a FEMA disaster by August with Revere battling .200 and an OPS+ of 47. With Danny Espinosa’s solid glove holding court at short, the decision came to try Turner at center for Revere.
With a week of games in center under his belt in Triple-A Syracuse, Turner got the call. Although his defense was shaky, his bat caught fire. He could turn a single or walk into an immediate double, swiping 33 bases. His eight triples led the team. Not bad for 73 games.
Oh yeah, Turner popped 13 homers and 14 doubles. His slash line nearly stole the Rookie of the Year from the Dodgers Corey Seager. When you hit .342/.370/.567, you turn heads. Turner twisted necks from College Park to Richmond with a .937 OPS and 142 OPS+.
His offensive injection helped the Nats pass the New York Mets and return to the playoffs. Against those Dodgers, he stole two bases while hitting .318 in their series loss.
Any question of where Turner would play in the field was answered when Espinosa fumed at a potential benching. He went to Los Angeles while Turner moved in at short.