Turner hopes consistent approach leads to more hits

There are any number of factors you can point to when trying to explain the Nationals' inconsistent start to this season at the plate, but as is so often the case with this lineup it's always appropriate to start at the top.

As Trea Turner goes, so go the Nationals. That was especially obvious in 2019, when the club's early season struggles coincided with the leadoff man's finger injury and the subsequent resurgence coincided with his return to the active roster.

There's no injury this time around, but Turner has not yet found his groove at the plate. And it shows.

Ten games in, Turner is batting .184 with a .238 on-base percentage. He has scored only two runs.

"The biggest thing with him, I always say accept your walks and get on base," manager Davey Martinez said. "The key for him is just get on base. Accept your walks and get on base. As we all know, when he starts going, he starts tearing the ball up, and we start going."

Turner has been through slumps before, but not quite like this. When he has struggled in the past, he has often found himself swinging wildly at pitches out of the zone, striking out at a hefty rate. That's not what's happening right now.

Turner has only six strikeouts in 42 plate appearances, a rate of 14.3 percent that's by far the lowest of his career. One year ago, he struck out in nearly 20 percent of his plate appearances.

But a relative lack of strikeouts hasn't produced more hits. Turner may be making more contact, but he's not making good contact.

"I feel like, at times, I'm having great at-bats," he said. "I'm just not hitting the ball on the screws. I feel like I'm not swinging out of my shoes, swinging and missing and having terrible at-bats. I just feel like I haven't found some grass in the outfield."

Despite his obvious gift of speed, Turner has never fit the mold of the classic leadoff hitter. He's not a guy who is going to go out of his way to work the count or drag out an at-bat. He's often at his best when he's aggressive and attacking first-pitch fastballs over the plate.

How, though, does he balance the desire to stay aggressive with the need to show more patience?

"I'll keep doing what I'm doing," he said. "I think it has been weird. I feel like I'm hitting behind in the count a lot, and then sometimes when I'm ahead in the count I don't get good pitches to hit. I feel like they've done a good job of pitching me so far this year. I just need to do a little better job of getting the ball in the middle of the zone and continue to do what I'm doing, because I'm feeling pretty good."