Trea Turner's speed messes up the opponent's defense, creates havoc

Shortstop Trea Turner has made a big impact on the Nationals offense in his 10 games up this season.

Already we are seeing more Turner running on double steals, going first to third, moving from second to third on sac flys and stealing home. Even what would normally be doubles by regular players are triples with Turner racing around the bases.

This is just the beginning of Trea Turner.

Turner isn't going to move levels any more this season. His game-changing speed has to remain in the Nats offense to give them that third dimension.

Manager Dusty Baker said this week the speed that Turner possesses can make the defense mess up routine plays.

"It affects everybody. It affects us when they have a speed guy over there," Baker said. "You can't bobble the ball. You rush on double plays. It distracts the pitcher when they are trying to pick him off. And then he speeds up his delivery.

"If you got to concentrate on two things, naturally you probably do neither very well. It affects everybody. Plus, the guys hitting behind him will probably get more fastballs away because the catcher has pride and wants to throw him out. Makes it easier to throw behind him. They're not going to throw a lot of breaking balls in the dirt if a guy can't run. Speed affects the whole game."

Outfielders think twice when they see Turner on the basepaths. They try to prevent him from getting doubles and triples. Because these outfielders don't normally see speed like this, they want to see if their arm can stop Turner. It can backfire for the defense quickly.

"Some guys take pride in nobody running on them if you've got a gun," Baker said. "Consequently, you try to gun that guy out, then the trail runner goes to second base. Then you bring the infield in. What would've been a double play is now a two-run rally. Speed has a tremendous effect."

Turner is hitting .282 through the 10 games, but has struck out 13 times. He struck out only 12 times in 27 games here last season. Turner has hit just .222 (8-for-36) since his 3-for-3 season debut in Cincinnati in early June.

On "Nats Xtra," MASN analyst Ray Knight noticed Turner's arm coming off the bat in his follow-through during strikeouts. This may not be the issue that Baker has seen, but the manager did say they will continue to work on Turner's approach so he can get to the point where he fouls off junk pitches like Jayson Werth does, to go deeper in at-bats and wait for the pitcher to make a mistake.

"It's the same thing I saw in spring training," Baker said. "I can't tell the world. One thing for sure, if there is something, they'll find it sooner or later. It might not be this year. Could be a couple years from now. It's how you combat what they're trying to do to you."

Three triples for Turner in the first 10 games. He also has four stolen bases and has scored five runs. So once Turner gets on, it is big trouble for the opponent.