Dodgers: Justin Turner is Suddenly Hitting Like We All Hoped He Would

Things were looking sort of bleak for Justin Turner when the season started. Once one of the greatest all-around hitters the Dodgers had ever known, JT appeared to have lost a step. That showed in a .197 batting average and almost no power in his first month of the season.

Not much improved for him over the course of the next 2 months. Turner still wasn’t hitting for average and the power numbers were almost nonexistent. He homered 3 times in May and just twice in June for the Dodgers. 

But lately, we’ve been seeing the old JT return. He’s hitting .438 in the month of July and has already posted a 1.097 OPS across 9 games. It’s a small sample size, but Turner looks significantly better in the box right now. And it couldn’t have come at a better time for the Dodgers. 

Obviously, the Dodgers have been hurting for most of the season. Guys like Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, and a few bench players have seen decent time on the injured list. But they’ve also lost some key guys who still remain out, including Edwin Rios and Chris Taylor. Rio suffered a hamstring injury and Taylor broke his foot after fouling a ball off of it. 

So for JT to step up right now is huge. The Dodgers are currently 56-29 and 7.5 games ahead of the Padres for the NL West lead. You would think with all of the injuries they’ve suffered through that they would be struggling to maintain a winning pace. But they’re doing far more than just keeping pace. 

But that’s sort of been the mantra for this team since new ownership took over. When one guy goes down, another steps up and carries the load. Right now, Justin Turner is one of the Dodgers players carrying, just as he has for most of his career in LA.