They're already in first place in the NL East, but the Washington Nationals have decided to call in the cavalry anyway.
As Talk Nats Blog first reported, Washington is expected to promote speedy shortstop Trea Turner, whom MLB.com rates as baseball's No. 9 prospect, from Triple-A Syracuse. MLB.com's William Ladson confirmed Turner will join the team Friday in Cincinnati:
After an uneventful 27-game look-see last September, this will be Turner's second go-around in The Show. And this one may also be brief and uneventful. With Ryan Zimmerman only expected to be out for a couple of days, Turner may only be with the Nationals long enough to fill in on the infield before going back to the minors.
However, there is more than a decent chance Turner could be up for good.
As Jeff Todd noted at MLB Trade Rumors, the Nationals don't need to worry about playing the service-time game with Turner. He won't get credit for a full season in the majors no matter how long he stays up. As such, Washington will still control his rights through 2022.
Beyond that, there's the kinda-sorta-very obvious reality that the Nationals could use a player with Turner's talents.
In the midst of a spring training showing in which he posted a .717 OPS, Turner was arguably ready to be a Nationals regular at the start of the 2016 season. After what he's done at Triple-A since, he looks even more ready.
In 50 games, Turner has put up a .310/.376/.472 slash line. His 61 total hits put him third among International League hitters, and he's looked good in collecting them.
Though Turner hasn't hit the ball with much authority, Daren Willman of MLB.com and Baseball Savant fame showed how he's done an excellent job of spreading his hits around:
Between this and his raw numbers, the 22-year-old NC State alum is supporting the widely held notion that he has an above-average hit tool.
Meanwhile, Turner is making the most of his way-way-way above-average speed. In 17 tries, he's swiped 17 bags. That's already more than halfway to his single-season high of 29, an improvement he credits to how he's developed the smarts to match his legs.
"I think it's just about knowing the game," Turner said of his baserunning last month, via MiLB.com's Michael Peng. "Knowing what the pitcher is going to do, knowing who's hitting behind you and the counts. Just trying to relax out there. When you try to get jumps, you may end up doing stupid things and make a mistake. If you stay relaxed, I think you can take advantage of a lot of opportunities out there."
Despite his hit tool and speed, Turner is not a perfect prospect. He has some swing-and-miss in his game. Even calling his power "average" may be a stretch. And as MASN Sports' Mark Zuckerman reported, a big reason the Nationals sent Turner to Syracuse was to work on his defense.
Turner's glove may still be a work in progress. When Baseball Prospectus' Adam Hayes saw Turner in May, he remarked that, though the physical tools to play a good shortstop were there, Turner was "still working to improve timing/reads."
Adding Turner to the Nats defense could therefore be a case of subtraction by addition. Since Daniel Murphy isn't moving from second base, Turner would replace Danny Espinosa at shortstop. According to the metrics, Espinosa's mostly a good defender.
But the catch with Espinosa is no secret. His defense is barely (if at all) worth his .200 average or his .637 OPS. Since Stephen Drew hasn't done any better when he's spelled Espinosa, it's no wonder the Nationals are at No. 23 overall in shortstop offense (65 wRC+).
That's one problem Turner might be able to fix, and it's not even the biggest one.
As bad as the Nationals shortstops have been at the dish, the club's leadoff hitters have been worse. They own just a .185/.231/.303 batting line, putting them dead last in MLB in adjusted offense. Michael Taylor wasn't the answer. Ben Revere hasn't been, either.
Turner's bat and speed potentially provide an ideal solution to the problem. That could mean yet another boost for a Nationals offense that, despite a slumping Bryce Harper, has been on a nice roll since a slow April.
Because their offense has been rolling along just fine without Turner, the Nationals won't necessarily be shooting themselves in the foot if they only have him fill in over the weekend. They're not in a "red alert" situation, so they shouldn't feel compelled to keep him around just for the sake of having some fresh blood.
There's no question, though, that the needs Turner can fill for the Nationals are needs he's going to fill sooner or later. If the Nationals choose sooner, an already good team stands to get even better.
Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.
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