Phillies President Dave Dombrowski Stresses Trea Turner 'Has To Be Better'

By his standards, Trea Turner had arguably the worst season of his MLB career in 2026. What's more, Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is being brutally honest about the team's star shortstop.

"We were very clear. He knows he has to be better at shortstop. And I told him that it's really mandatory that he’s like that," Dombrowski said about Turner's 2026 performance at a press conference at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday morning, according to MLB.com. "He feels he can play, and if he plays shortstop like he did in ’25, he can play shortstop. But if he plays it like he did in ’26, he can't. And he totally understands that."

Turner posted -17 defensive runs saved (DRS) at shortstop this season, marking the third time in Turner's four years with the Phillies that he has finished with a negative, double-digit DRS.

Meanwhile, Turner, a two-time batting champion and three-time All-Star, totaled 19 home runs, 58 RBIs, 21 stolen bases, an 81 OPS+ and -0.1 wins above replacement (WAR), while posting a .242/.297/.378 slash line.

Turner's batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS+ and WAR were all career worsts over a full season. Just last season (2025), Turner led the National League with a .304 batting average and posted 5.4 wins above replacement.

"The reason we signed him at the beginning compared to some others, not only was he a good player, but we thought that he had the ability to continue to be a good player for a longer time period because of his quick-twitch muscles, the type of athlete he is, what he possesses," Dombrowski said of Turner. "I mean, he led the league in hitting last year, so I was surprised myself on the offensive year that he had and that we weren't able to get out of it, as he was, so it's up to us to try to fix all those types of things.

"We’ve already given [Turner] some information ourselves that we think could be helpful. … We need to leave it that he is very willing to do, if he doesn't play shortstop, what is best for the Philadelphia Phillies organization. So, that's how we left it with him, and he's determined to show us that he can play it. And I said, ‘You have to show it. You cannot play shortstop like [you] did defensively in ’26, going into ’27.'"

The 33-year-old Turner is four years into an 11-year, $300 million contract with the Phillies. As for other positions, Turner primarily played second base for the Los Angeles Dodgers down the stretch of the 2021 MLB season and has made 79 career starts at the keystone. He also started 44 games in center field for the Washington Nationals in 2016. Granted, Turner, aside from being the team's designated hitter, hasn't played a position outside shortstop since 2021.

Elsewhere, the Phillies named interim manager Don Mattingly, who was promoted from bench coach after manager Rob Thomson was fired in the wake of the team's 9-19 start, their full-time skipper on a two-year deal Wednesday. Philadelphia went 79-55 after Mattingly took over as manager but lost in three games to the Atlanta Braves in the MLB Wild Card Series.

The Phillies haven't advanced past the NL Division Series since 2023. 

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