For a lot of baseball teams, there's a player or two that you can point to that allows you to breathe a little easier when they come to the plate, and you can count on to come through in the clutch spots. The Boston Red Sox have had many key moments of players stepping up in big spots this season, but who has that guy been all year for the Red Sox? It's Justin Turner.
In 132 plate appearances this season, Turner's line with runners in scoring position is ridiculous - .372/.424/.637/1.061.
Justin Turner with RISP this season:
— Tyler Milliken ⚾️ (@tylermilliken_) August 21, 2023
132 PA
.372/.424/.637/1.061
9 HR
3 2B
64 RBI
19/13 K/BB
181 wRC+
“I saw that so many times for a decade long, seeing Mr. Clutch doing his thing."
- Kenley Jansen pic.twitter.com/y2ePCaF3Am
Turner also leads all Red Sox position players in Win Probability Added (WPA) at 2.95. The two-time All-Star is having one of the best seasons of his career, and in his age 38 season has a chance to approach, or even break career-highs in many statistical categories. Entering the season with a young lineup that carried many doubts after losing Xander Bogaerts and J.D. Martinez, Turner has been consistent and brought a veteran leadership that this team desperately needed.
It's a bold comparison to make, but Turner's ability to get the big hit, drive in runs, and the way the dugout rallies around him, often mirrors David Ortiz.
How much confidence does this team, including manager Alex Cora, have in Justin Turner?
Red Sox manager Alex Cora had this to say about Turner following the sweep of the Yankees this past weekend, via MassLive.com.
"That’s the reason we switched the lineup. If they’re gonna walk Raffy, they’ve got Turner. We’re gonna keep doing this. For the rest of the season, we’ll do it the other way around. Early in the season, it was Raffy behind him. Now it’s like, ‘OK, you know what? If you’re gonna walk Raffy, you go after Turner.’'"
Turner has been playing through a bone bruise and was not in the lineup Monday evening in the Red Sox 9-4 lost to Houston in the opening game of the series. Turner will return to the lineup tonight for game two as DH and bat third behind Devers. With Masataka Yoshida behind Turner, the heart of the Red Sox order will look to drive in more runs tonight as they left 11 runners stranded last night and hit just .167 with runners in scoring position.
"Mr. Clutch" will look to help the Red Sox with one final push to the postseason.