Philadelphia Phillies Infielder Falls From Top Spot In MLB Rankings

The Philadelphia Phillies made one of the biggest splashes last offseason by signing shortstop Trea Turner to a massive 11-year, $300 million contract. At the time, he was considered the best shortstop in baseball.

Well, that was then and this is now. But Phillies fans shouldn’t panic.

MLB.com is publishing its “Top 10 Right Now” at each position. When their rankings came out a year ago Turner was at the top, as he was coming off an All-Star season for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

When the rankings came out earlier this week, Turner was fifth.

Who was in front of him? Texas Rangers shortstop Corey Seager topped the list, followed by Francisco Lindor of the New York Mets, Xander Bogaerts of the San Diego Padres and Dansby Swanson of the Chicago Cubs.

To determine the rankings, MLB.com used past player performances, offensive and defensive metrics, traditional baseball statistics and advanced metrics.

Turner ended up with a respectable slash line in his first season in Philly — .266/.320/.459/.778. But, as most Phillies fans know, he began the season horribly at the plate and his turning point was a game at Citizens Bank Park where the crowd didn’t boo him but gave him encouragement and a standing ovation at a low point in his season.

From there, Turner bounced back and ended up with 26 home runs and 76 RBI. He helped the Phillies get all the way to the NL Championship Series, where they lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Phillies hope he’ll avoid the slow start in 2024 and add to his two All-Star Game appearances and his Silver Slugger award.

The rest of the Top 10 included the Toronto Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette, the Minnesota Twins’ Carlos Correa, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Willy Adames, the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. and the Seattle Mariners, J.P. Crawford.