Trea Turner sets the tone in Phillies’ 6-1 win over the Mets 8%
By Lochlahn March3%
7/18/2026, 11:06:29 PM
Topics: Baseball
BS Summary: This article contains 28 faulty reasoning types, including Negativity Bias, Recency Bias, and Post Hoc (False Cause), with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 7.9% saturation with 162 hits. Analysis detected 1,684 faulty-reasoning hits from 2,057 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 24.7% and a BS Rank of 8% (16,508 of 17,815 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 92.70% of the article peer group.
On his way home for the All-Star break last Sunday, Trea Turner spent some time pondering his season so far.
It has been a disappointment for the Phillies shortstop overall, on both sides of the ball.
He was especially frustrated with his performance on the team’s last road trip before the break, where he felt like he was making the contact he wanted but the results weren’t following.
“Looking up expected numbers, and have the guys tell me what it looks like, and I’m getting half the production that I should be getting,” Turner said.
“That’s just frustrating.”
Brandon Marsh had a blistering start for the Phillies.
Don Mattingly is not worried about his recent cold streak.
After winning the National League batting title in 2025, Turner entered the break with a subpar .236 average.
He spent the plane ride mulling it over, and then tried to turn his brain off for the next three days he spent with his family.
Perhaps the reset did him some good at the plate.
Turner’s 414-foot homer in the fifth inning of Saturday’s 6-1 win over the Mets was his second home run in as many games after the break.
He also picked up two singles for a three-hit, three-run day.
“Obviously, he’s hit a couple balls out of the ballpark, but he’s kind of controlled the zone a little better, where he’s getting the ball in the strike zone,” said interim manager Don Mattingly.
There is room for improvement defensively, though.
In the second inning, Turner botched a routine ground ball for his 14th error of the season.
It also happened to be his second error in as many games after the break, after a misplay during Thursday’s series opener.
Turner committed just eight errors last season.
He did extra drills with infield coach Bobby Dickerson ahead of Saturday’s game as he tries to recapture the improvements he made in the field last year.
“I just want to, I think, read the ball a little better,” Turner said.
“I feel like physically, I feel good.
I feel like I’m making moves that I want to make.
It’s the last few mistakes I’ve made has just been judgment on a hop I think I’m going to get, and then the second or third hop’s not exactly what I envision, and I just put myself in a bad spot.”
Phillies trade deadline preview: Bullpen is becoming a top priority, and maybe the Mets can provide answers
Saturday’s error did not wind up biting the Phillies much, as starter Jesús Luzardo struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
Along with the back-to-back walks he issued in the first inning, though, it did cost Luzardo some pitches and he was lifted at 90 after the fifth.
A solo homer from Tyrone Taylor was just one of two hits the Mets managed against Luzardo, as he struck out seven.
Juan Soto, one of the most disciplined hitters in the game with just a 12.7% strikeout rate, accounted for two of those.
The first time, Luzardo got Soto to chase his signature sweeper low and away in the third inning.
The second time, in the fifth, he stunned Soto with a left-on-left changeup.
Luzardo and Soto, who briefly coincided earlier in their careers in the Nationals minor league system, both smiled as they walked off the field.
“Hadn’t struck him out in a couple years, I think, so that was nice,” Luzardo said.
“But finding any way to get him out is always a pleasant surprise.”
The Phillies capitalized on a sloppy Mets team that committed three errors on Saturday, but the win was a positive sign for their bats overall.
They racked up 12 hits in a game that was delayed for just over 45 minutes due to heavy rain during the bottom of the seventh.
Kyle Schwarber gave the Phillies some breathing room with a towering 399-foot two-run blast in the first inning.
And after Turner’s homer in the fifth, they continued to tack on.
Schwarber drew a walk and advanced from first to third when catcher Francisco Alvarez’s pickoff attempt sailed high and wide.
He then scored easily when Alec Bohm punched a single to left field.
A single from Edmundo Sosa and a J.T.
Realmuto walk kept the line moving, but the rally ended when Derek Hill struck out to strand the bases loaded.
Phillies will open the 2027 season at the Washington Nationals
“Had a couple innings there that type of innings that make you nervous,“ Mattingly said.
”Leadoff double, we don’t score.
First and third, we don’t score.
You look at those and you feel like sometimes they’re going to come back to haunt you.
Today it didn’t.
Obviously, we were able to keep pushing.”
The Phillies loaded the bases again in the sixth inning, and this time they capitalized.
Bryson Stott tripled and Turner and Schwarber drew back-to-back walks against Mets right-hander Kodai Senga to put three on for Bryce Harper.
He got hold of Senga’s signature forkball for a two-run single that gave the Phillies’ bullpen a comfortable cushion.
Not that they needed much.
Orion Kerkering had pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, striking out Carson Benge with a 97.8 mph fastball.
José Alvarado sidestepped an infield single for a scoreless seventh, and Chase Shugart retired six consecutive Mets in the eighth and ninth to seal it.
Following the rain delay in the bottom of the seventh, Turner picked up his third hit of the day on an infield single against Mets reliever Xzavion Curry.
“Once you get some of those infield singles and hits to fall, you start having stuff to build on,” Turner said.
“I feel like early on, I didn’t have anything to build on.
I feel like in the last 30, 40 games if I have something wrong, I can fix it real quick, and hit the ball the other way or whatever it may be, and make the adjustments faster.
And that’s the way I am.”
Phillies owner John Middleton spent months planning to host the city’s first All-Star Game in 30 years.
Now that it’s over, he joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast, to recap his most memorable moments from the week.
He also discussed the upcoming trade deadline and Field of Dreams Game in Iowa, and the future of the top of the Phillies organizational masthead.
Watch here.
Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins | Terry Francona
Bullpen
Late-inning meltdowns torpedoed the Phillies in the 2023 and 2024 postseasons, so they traded two touted prospects at the deadline last year for Jhoan Duran.
And the Durantula has dominated.
But what’s the point of having one of the best closers in baseball if the bridge to him is rickety?
The bullpen vaulted to the top of the Phillies’ priority list this week after they lost Brad Keller for the season with a torn elbow ligament.
Orion Kerkering and Jonathan Bowlan are the remaining righty setup options; lefty José Alvarado has pitched better than his ERA (6.82), but not nearly good enough.
Maybe the Mets, of all teams, can help.
‘The game is where it needs to be’: Bryce Harper wants compromise (and no salary cap) to keep sport thriving
Amid a calamitous season, New York’s bullpen has been an area of strength.
Need a lefty?
The Mets can offer A.J.
Minter (1.42 ERA entering the weekend) or 38-year-old Brooks Raley (2.02), both on expiring contracts.
They’re expected to listen on right-hander Huascar Brazobán (2.70), although he’s under club control through 2029.
Luke Weaver might bring back the best return for the Mets.
He signed a two-year, $22 million contract — identical to Keller’s deal — last winter and has a 2.03 ERA.
The Phillies and Mets aren’t often trade partners.
Juan Samuel-for-Lenny Dykstra (and Roger McDowell) in 1989 was a long time ago.
But there are a few recent examples.
In 2018 and 2019, the Phillies sent minor leaguers to the Mets for Asdrúbal Cabrera and Jason Vargas, respectively.
Another team to watch: the Padres.
They lost 11 of 16 games before the break and slid to 3½ games out of a playoff spot.
And they open the second half with 10 games on the road, seven of which are in Atlanta and Miami.
It isn’t general manager A.J.
Preller’s style to sell.
But if the Padres keep plummeting, walk-year lefty Adrián Morejón could be a logical chip.
The hard-throwing 27-year-old has a 3.42 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 50 innings.
Right-handed hitter
Stop us if this sounds familiar: The Phillies are looking for a righty-hitting outfielder.
At each of the last two deadlines, Dombrowski traded for an outfielder who bats from the right side: Austin Hays in 2024 and Harrison Bader in 2025.
Then, last winter, the Phillies signed Adolis García.
García, like Keller, is out for the season.
And like Keller, his absence left a void, even though he didn’t make the impact the Phillies hoped in the middle of the lineup.
But the Phillies can be better about reaching base at a higher clip.
One player who makes sense: Taylor Ward.
Ward, 32, entered the weekend with six homers for the Orioles after averaging 24 in the last four seasons for the Angels.
But he has swapped power for on-base ability, reaching at a .387 clip, seventh in the American League.
The Orioles were 46-51, but only two games out of a wild card.
Their first nine games out of the break are against the Astros, Red Sox, and Braves, a stretch that could determine whether they buy or sell.
Back-end starter
The Phillies are 40-14 in games started by Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo.
In all other games, they are 14-30.
Three starters is mostly sufficient for the postseason, but getting there requires at least five.
Aaron Nola is pitching better with a curveball- and changeup-heavy gameplan.
But Andrew Painter has gotten mixed results in triple A, leaving Alan Rangel as the No. 5 starter.
Here again, pay attention to the Mets.
Clay Holmes has been out since May with a fractured right fibula.
But interim manager Andy Green told reporters Thursday that the 33-year-old righty is “inching closer” to a minor-league assignment.
Phillies reliever Brad Keller expected to miss rest of the season with torn elbow ligament
Opposing scouts will surely be watching.
Because Holmes had a 2.39 ERA in nine starts before the injury and a 3.53 mark in 31 starts last season.
And in the three years before that, he was an excellent late-inning reliever, with a 2.85 ERA and 74 saves for the Yankees.
Holmes has a $12 million player option for next season.
The Mets are open to discussing an extension, according to SNY.TV.
But they could also trade Holmes, then try to sign him back in the offseason.
Because there’s going to be substantial interest in a pitcher who can deepen a contender’s rotation down the stretch before shifting into the bullpen for the playoffs.
Sounds like just what the Phillies need.
Set a calendar reminder for March 25, when the Phillies are expected to open the 2027 season in Washington, according to the schedule released Thursday by MLB.
That assumes, of course, that next season starts on time.
Baseball is facing a work stoppage after the collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, at which point the owners likely will lock out the players.
If a new agreement can’t be reached by mid-March, it’s possible games will be lost.
Baseball celebrated itself with All-Star Week.
Next up: Avoiding self-destruction with a looming labor fight
Meanwhile, optimists can circle a few dates:
* April 1: Home opener vs. the Nationals
* April 20-22: The Phillies host the Dodgers
* May 21-23: A visit from Mike Trout’s Angels
* Holiday games on May 9 (Mother’s Day) vs. the Braves, June 20 (Father’s Day) vs. the Giants, July 4 vs. the Mariners, and Sept.
6 (Labor Day) vs. the Marlins.
* Sept.
26: Season finale at home vs. the Nationals
Analysis
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