LONDON – Trea Turner is getting closer. Close enough for a return this week during the Phillies’ series at Boston and Baltimore to be realistic, though neither he nor manager Rob Thompson wanted to provide a specific timeline.
Turner strained his left hamstring on May 3 and was sidelined for five weeks. He was initially expected to be sidelined for six.
“I feel at this stage that the injury has not gone away, but we have overcome that,” he said Sunday morning in London after receiving a lot of ground balls. “It kind of got my mind and body on fire. I told them I’d love to be ready tomorrow, but it’s kind of weird, it’s tough. I’ve never dealt with anything like this where I feel good today, I feel a little bit worse (another day). It’s kind of pushing those boundaries and trying not to have a relapse I would love to give you a day but I don’t really know the sooner the better in my eyes.
Turner worked extremely hard throughout the entire rehab process. He had been itching for weeks to get back into the Phillies lineup. He had a minor setback a couple of weeks ago in Denver, but he’s back in the same place he was back then, just without any pain or tightness this time.
He added: “I’m in the same place but a little better.” “In Denver, I was really tight. I can still feel my injury where I got hurt. Now it’s not like that. I’m at the same threshold, running with the same intensity but the feelings are different, which is good. I feel more comfortable doing things than I used to.” Time and I felt like I was stressing over certain things and maybe that’s why I had that little setback and I feel like I’m in the same place but in a better way.
Turner doesn’t want to go on a rehab assignment. He doesn’t think he needs one, similar to Bryce Harper last season when he returned from Tommy John surgery.
“In my career, I’ve done a couple of rehab assignments before. I never felt like they really helped me,” he said. “It’s more about checking the boxes and making sure I feel good. I’ve been honest with them every step of the way. Communication has been good. I’d rather not do that. Swinging feels good. I feel like that at this point in my career, I Very confident in myself.
“There’s a lot of drills I learned from 2018-19 with the Nats and Dodgers and here on how to emulate things. I’m not saying I’m going to shut myself down the minute I get back, but I feel good.”
Turner’s focus now is not on his speed, but on the ability to run, field and hit without thinking about his hamstrings.
“For me, it’s not about running at a certain speed, the most important thing is that I run out there and don’t think about anything,” he said. “I don’t really care about how fast I am per se, it’s just that I don’t get injured again. That’s why we’re taking things a bit slowly. I can play in games maybe with less intensity at the moment but I want to make sure I’m over that hurdle.”
“It’s just the last hurdle in the home run. The ground balls here the last couple of days have been really good, much like the games, where getting to the balls, all kinds of stuff has been looking really good, and the hitting has been good. We’ve gotten past that last hurdle of the home runs and “Feeling comfortable, scoring runs and things like that.”
Edmundo Sosa has flourished at shortstop in Turner’s absence, hitting .302/.362/.547 with four doubles, four triples, three homers and 15 RBI in 27 games. He also played elite defense. He has been so productive that the Phillies have considered using him in the outfield when Turner returns.
Sosa took reps in the outfield frequently last year but did not do so this season because he was needed in the outfield and the Phillies added Whit Merrifield to play left field in addition to second base.
“For me, it’s very important that our manager says that,” Sosa said. “I will work there if necessary and, as with everything I do, I will give the best version of myself.
“I just want to live in the moment and try to have fun. We all know Trea Turner is a big star and we all hope he comes back soon. We know he’s one of the mainstays of our team. I’m going to keep doing that. I do my job the same every day, and I’m ready to do whatever the coach wants me to do.” .
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