Trey Turner, the hero who brought the United States to the finals, is actually a hitter with strong contact and mobility rather than long hits.
However, in this WBC, he hit decisive home runs in the quarter-finals and semi-finals one after another, emerging as a key player in ‘TEAM USA’.
In the quarterfinal match against Venezuela on the 19th, Turner blew a grand slam with no bases loaded in the top of the 8th inning, where he was trailing 5-7, becoming the main character of the 9-7 epic story. In a situation where he was cornered with two strikes, Venezuela right-hander Silvino Bracho’s changeup in the middle was accurately hit without missing, and it went over the left wall. Turner is the third American player to hit a grand slam home run in the WBC, following Jason Varitek in 2006 and David Wright in 2013.
And in the semi-finals against Cuba on the 20th, the 2nd and 6th innings exploded with solo shots and 3 runs, respectively. In the second inning, he pulled a 93.4 mile fastball from opposition left-hander starter Roennis Elias and crossed the left wall. In the 6th inning, he hit an 89.2 mile fastball in the middle of right-hander Elian Leyva from 1st, 1st and 2nd bases and slightly crossed the left-middle fence.
Turner is the second American player in WBC history to hit two home runs in one game, that is, multiple home runs. In the 2006 WBC, Ken Griffey Jr. hit two home runs against South Africa. Griffey Jr. is currently batting for all-star hitters as the national team’s hitting coach.
MLB.com said, “Perhaps Turner got some tips from Griffey Jr., who came inside the batting cage during training on the 18th.” The image of coach Griffey entering the batting cage and hitting a home run and receiving compliments and cheers from American hitters who watched it was revealed through the SNS of the Major League Players Union.
Griffey is a legend who hit 630 home runs in his career. Inducted into the Hall of Fame, he said he volunteered for the WBC USA national team coaching position.
Regarding the multi-homer record, Turner said after the game that day, “I have to go up to Griffey without delay and talk to him. It will be fun.” He smiled broadly. 바카라사이트
Turner hit 3 home runs in 2 days and set a record of 4 RBIs in 2 consecutive games for the first time in WBC history. Turner, who marked 4 home runs, surpassed Korea’s Kim Ha-seong and rose to the top spot in the home run category alone. As of this day, 14 players, including Luis Araez of Venezuela, are tied for third with two, following Turner and Kim Ha-sung. Turner also tied for first with Masataka Yoshida of Japan with 10 RBIs.
If Turner wields a strong blow in the finals and leads the U.S. championship, there is a very high possibility that he will become the WBC MVP this time.
Meanwhile, Turner signed an 11-year, $300 million free agent contract last winter and moved to the Philadelphia Phillies.