Collapse<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/aside>\n\n\n\nTurner ended up stealing 57 bases his freshman year on 61 tries, obliterating the Wolfpack\u2019s record for stolen bases in a season. NC State head coach Elliott Avent says he wanted Turner to go for even more, maybe 80 out of 95. But, he says, Turner was calculating and smart with his risks. \u201cHe didn\u2019t ever want to get thrown out,\u201d Avent says. \u201cHe took it personal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking things personally, at times, fueled Turner\u2019s drive. Once, Avent was driving Turner to an awards banquet outside of Raleigh, and he asked Turner to navigate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turner had the directions opened on his phone, but got distracted by an article suggesting that Turner might have a below-average arm for the majors. \u201cWe got lost because he\u2019s too busy reading this article saying his arm\u2019s not good enough,\u201d says Avent. \u201cSo what does he do? He works on his arm.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Minor Incident<\/h4>\n\n\n\n At the end of Turner\u2019s junior year, he won the award for the top short-stop in college baseball, and his career at NC State had included a trip to the College World Series. That June, he was the 13th overall pick by the San Diego Padres in the 2014 MLB draft. Once drafted and signed, Turner jumped into San Diego\u2019s farm system and climbed the ranks. But that August, the Padres hired a new general manager and changed course. A three-team trade was announced that December involving the Padres, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Washington Nationals, who, in the deal, got a \u201cplayer to be named later.\u201d Guess who? Trea Turner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But there was a catch. Due to what was seen as an arcane MLB rule, Turner could not move to the Nationals\u2019 minor-league system until a full calendar year after he signed his first contract. Meanwhile, everyone knew he would eventually be a Nat. Words like \u201climbo\u201d and \u201cpurgatory\u201d were used to describe Turner\u2019s situation as he spent half a season with a team he was about to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI tried to be professional about it,\u201d Turner says. \u201cI had to try to be a good teammate with people I wasn\u2019t going to be teammates with very long. . . .\u2009It was, \u2018How am I going to approach it?\u2019 Was I going to come to the field late every day? Was I going to try to get better?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rule, known in baseball circles as the \u201cTrea Turner rule,\u201d was changed heading into the 2015 season, allowing traded players to join their new team after the World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On With The Show<\/h4>\n\n\n\n Once June 2015 arrived, Turner picked back up on his journey to the big leagues, this time in the Nats\u2019 farm system, where he had reached Triple-A ball, playing for the Syracuse Chiefs. In August, when he was sitting in a theater watching Straight Outta Compton<\/em>, his cell phone rang. He\u2019d gotten his call and was told he would be a Washington National. Turner called his mother and told her to get to D.C. with the rest of his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nTurner spent the remainder of the 2015 season playing 27 games in spots for the Nationals but not enough to be a regular player. He spent the first part of 2016 season back at Triple-A, honing his skills before being called up in June. He hit a handful of triples in his first several games with the Nationals and, according to the Nationals\u2019 website, became known around the clubhouse as \u201cTriple T.\u201d When asked about it, Turner is precise, saying, \u201cActually, my nickname is apparently \u2018Triple Trea.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He won the National League Rookie of the Month honor in August and September of 2016 and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting that season while playing a position, center field, he had never played. And he\u2019s been \u201cTriple Trea\u201d with the Nats ever since, impressing everyone around the MLB with his speed. \u201cI played against him when I was with the Dodgers,\u201d says Nationals second baseman Howie Kendrick. \u201cI was in left field one game and he hit a ball down the line. \u200a. . .\u2009\u200aI\u2019m sprinting over to get the ball and I look up. The next thing I know when I grab the ball, he\u2019s already halfway to third base.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turner is MLB\u2019s fastest short-stop, according to Statcast, a collection of metrics by MLB measuring specific skillsets of players. He has a steal time\u200a\u2014\u2009the amount of time it takes to get to second base after a 12-foot lead off of first\u2009\u2014\u2009of 2.99 seconds. The league average is about 3.3 seconds. In 2017, he set the Nationals\u2019 record for steals in a season, swiping 46 stolen bases. That\u2019s in a season when Turner missed almost two months with a broken wrist. \u201cI want to steal as many times as I can,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s 20. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s a hundred. \u200a. . .\u2009I don\u2019t put numbers on anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Back in Turner\u2019s college days, the Wolfpack was set to play an ACC tournament game at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. In the dugout, there\u2019s a two-foot-by-two-foot door that opens to a little cubby. Turner was small enough that he could climb inside and hide until Avent came to post the lineup. \u201cAs soon as Trea popped out of that door,\u201d Hart says, \u201che almost gave Coach Avent a heart attack.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lesson? Turner and his 6-foot-2-inch, 185-pound frame are sneaky, just like his power, which has given way to 36 home runs in his four seasons in the majors. Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon, one of Turner\u2019s best friends on the team, has another way of describing Turner. \u201cHe\u2019s like skinny strong,\u201d says Rendon, who likes to joke about Turner\u2019s lack of facial hair making him look like a 12-year-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s like skinny strong.\" \u2013Anthony Rendon, below left<\/p><\/div><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\nAt the end of the day, it\u2019s Turner\u2019s exceptional speed that separates him from most other major leaguers. With a lead on first and after all of his calculations and his burst, Turner bounds for second. And like his trajectory, his career in the Show is off and running. His speed and power all have made him a major weapon at the top of the Nationals\u2019 lineup. Harper, a perennial All-Star, says Turner is a guy \u201cthat you could seriously say is a five-tool player.\u201d They are the reason Avent says one of his most enjoyable things to do in life still is watching Turner get a triple or score from first base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd they're the reason Turner\u2019s baseball life can be described with the same adjective he expects to hear as he wheels to second before sliding headfirst. It\u2019s the same word he\u2019s heard 103 times after taking off to steal in the majors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The future of Trea Turner in Major League Baseball is, as the umpire says and signals with his airplane arms spread wide, safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n