Turner's stolen base ability adds lethal dimension to potent offense

On Sunday in New York, shortstop Trea Turner earned a career-high and club record four stolen bases in the 5-1 loss to the Mets. Turner has 26 stolen bases on the season.

Manager Dusty Baker said former major leaguer and current first base coach Davey Lopes has been a good influence on the speedy Turner. Lopes stole 557 bases in his career - 77 stolen bases in 1975 was his high water mark.

"Well, yeah, improvement because Davey Lopes is working with him on reads and breaks and slides," Baker said. "A lot of times when he gets thrown out it's because of the slide - he comes off the base. Davey Lopes, he could help you steal bases."

Turner has 61 stolen bases in 159 total games. When Turner was asked what Lopes was doing to help, the answer was pretty simple.

"Tell me to run," Turner said. "For me it's all about confidence. He gives you the confidence to run and I think that's something I never really had. I had coaches that give me the green light. But it's always been on me. He pushes me to run. That's huge for me personally. I think that helps on a day to day basis."

His 33 steals last year was a career-high. He will shatter that mark at this rate this season.

Turner said his philosophy on stealing has more to do with what the pitcher is doing, his move and time to the plate, instead of what the catcher is doing.

"I don't really look at the catcher at all," Turner said. "I think you steal bases off the pitcher. I think a lot of people tell you that. Sometimes maybe a catcher if they are really, really good you may think about it. Somebody like Yadier (Molina). Other than that, I think it's all off the pitcher. "

From a catcher's point of view, it's basic as well. Nationals catcher Matt Wieters faced Turner last season while with the Orioles.

"He's fast," Wieters said.

Did he have a secret in catching him two times in one game last season?

"No, we had to go to replay twice to get him. if you don't make a concerted effort, you really don't have much of a chance to stop him," Wieters said. "And even when a pitcher does put all his focus over there, he's still able to get some bases.

"It's big for our lineup. One, it gets him in scoring position. Two, it can give us better pitchers to hit when you're hitting behind him because the pitcher always has to think about him when he's at first.

Wieters said having Turner bouncing off of first base can be tough for a pitcher to handle. Left-handers have a full on view of what might happen while right-handers have to peak over before delivering.

"It's going to happen," Wieters said of Turner going. "It's something to where good, veteran pitchers will know how to handle it. They still may give up a stolen base, but they may not lose focus to the plate. But you may have guys that might not want to give up a stolen base to where they throw fastballs over the middle of the plate."

The fastballs that Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman are more than happy to take advantage of.

The bottom line is Turner's speed on the bases adds a dimension that the Nats have not been able to utilize much in their young history. It can be a crucial part of making their offense even more difficult to stop.