The Los Angeles Dodgers cruised to a 10-3 win that completed a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers in the regular season finale at Dodger Stadium. Trea Turner continued swinging a hot bat, belting his second grand slam in the past three games.
The 28-year-old also won the National League batting title after hitting .328 across 148 games this season. He became the seventh player in Dodgers franchise history to win the award and it marks the eighth time a player from the organization has earned the honor.
“For me, it’s consistency, which I pride myself on showing up every day,” Turner said of winning the NL batting title. “You’ve got to qualify for certain awards and have a certain amount of at-bats, so it’s hard to win some things if you’re not out there on the field.
“That’s part of preparing and being lucky. It’s been a good season from a health standpoint. Any time you can win anything in this league, it’s special. So it’s pretty cool and I’m proud of it.”
Turner hit .338 in 52 games to close out the regular season, but faced some competition near the end of the season from former Washington Nationals teammate Juan Soto, who went on a historic stretch in late September.
The 22-year-old went hitless in his final three games, however, and finished right behind Turner with a .313 batting average. “No, not yet. I’m sure I’ll hear from him shortly,” Turner answered when asked if he had been contacted by Soto.
“He kind of handed it to me. I thought I was going to have a little more pressure on me this last week, or I was going to have to put pressure on him. I thought it would be a little more of a race. I’ll ask him what happened.”
While winning a batting title is noteworthy in its own right, Turner’s accomplishment is that much more impressive when considering his midseason trade and position change. “Focus on one day at a time, one at-bat at a time and control what you can control,” he said.
“A lot of things were out of my control and don’t necessarily affect me. If you let your emotions get the best of you one way or the other, it’s going to be a long season.
“For me, just move on from success and failure, keep learning, keep having fun. I think how I approach each and every day is what allowed me to be in this situation.”
Turner feeling ‘pretty good’
After closing the regular season on a 19-game hitting streak and earning NL Player of the Week honors, Turner is pleased with his recent feeling at the plate, though wasn’t certain if it is the best of his career. “I feel like that’s a big question. I don’t know,” Turner began.
“I think early this year before I hurt my hand, I was going pretty well and felt pretty good. But the last 10 games or so, I feel pretty good and feel like I can make adjustments pretty quickly. It’s all about the numbers, but I feel good.
“For me, I think you want to be consistent every day, feel as good as you can for as long as you can and keep riding that wave. I think that allows you to have success even if you’re making outs.
“If you’re having good at-bats, swinging at good pitches and hitting the ball hard, you’re in a good spot.”
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