During the Opening Series of the 2019 season, one player was a real thorn in the Mets’ side: Trea Turner. Turner stole four bases, hit a walk-off home run, and went 5-13 with two homers. Things would change for Turner in a hurry, though. The budding star was drilled in the hand with a pitch by Zach Eflin in the Nationals’ series opener against the Phillies.
Turner went down in immediate pain, and would windup being diagnosed with a broken right index finger, and will miss some serious time. So for the Mets, the question becomes: how much time will Turner miss? Well, when Turner broke his wrist in 2017, he missed roughly 2 months of play before coming back.
If Turner misses six weeks, which seems like a short IL stint for a broken finger on his throwing hand, he will just miss a four game series in Queens between the Mets and Nats. And while we’re on the topic of Mets and Nats, boy do they play each other a lot early on. They meet for the home opener in Queens on the 5th and play three. Five weeks after that, they meet in Washington for three from the 14th through the 16th. And just three days later is the four gamer in Queens.
If Trea Turner misses six weeks, he will miss ten games against the Mets. The Mets will dodge the newest Met killer in 10 of the 19 games they play against Washington.
In his career against the Mets, Turner has hit .278/.342/.438 in 44 games, and has stolen 23 bases, five more than he has against any other team in baseball (also worth noting that he has played more games against the Phillies and Braves).
Trea Turner is slated to be replaced on the day-to-day basis by Wilmer Difo, who very nicely put, is a downgrade from Turner.
The emphasis is now put on the Mets to capitalize on a Nationals team trending in the wrong direction, that is now missing one of their best hitters to add onto a bullpen that can not get out of their own way.
When looking at the Nationals’ roster, there might be no one that matches up better against the Mets than Turner. His 23 stolen bases have come against a staff that has two of the worst starters in baseball at holding on runners, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz.
With Turner now on the shelf for an extended period of time, the Mets must capitalize. More than half of their games against the Nationals possibly being played without Trea Turner, the Mets don’t have as much pressure on them in the run game, which has cost them games against Washington before. The Mets have a chance to bury the Nationals early on, and make a crowded division all the more clearer.
