Faith & Fastballs, Shaping a Pro Arm

The Story of Trey Turner’s Journey to Hagerstown, MD

In 2017, Trey Turner had made it to the Division I level. But after 13.1 innings, an elbow injury meant his season was over, and his professional career was in doubt.

“When I did blow out my elbow, I 100 percent didn’t even think about the draft, I just thought about getting better and coming back to school,” Turner said.

He was pitching for Missouri State, which is just over an hour away from his hometown of Neosho.

Turner was a two-way star at Neosho High School, but because of a high school injury, the Division I offers never came. Instead, he went the junior college route, attending Crowder College right in Neosho.

Turner was great at Crowder, especially as a hitter, and he batted .370 with seven home runs and 39 RBI in 47 games in his second year there in 2016. His performance was enough to earn him a chance to transfer to Missouri State with two years of eligibility left.

For many, junior college is a stepping stone. For Turner, it was a defining time.

“[Junior college] definitely gave me a structure of what a work ethic actually is,” Turner said. “It was the best two years of my life.”

But the success at the plate at Crowder didn’t necessarily translate to Missouri State. The drive and desire to pitch and hit at the next level was there, but it wasn’t all falling into place.

“I was working really hard to figure out my swing and try to become the hitter they wanted me to become,” Turner said. “Unfortunately it didn’t click in my head until after my time at Missouri State was done. So I told Coach [Keith] Guttin, ‘wherever you need me most, put me there, and I became a [pitcher].”

So after failing to record a hit and striking out five times in seven scattered at-bats early in 2017, Turner shifted his focus to the mound.

By the time he walked back to the dugout after popping out to third base in the 9th inning of a blowout win over Minnesota in his final at-bat March 12, Turner had already pitched four times in relief that season. In 9.2 innings, the righty had allowed one earned run on one hit and struck out 17 batters.

Missouri State knew they had something there.

His next two appearances were scoreless, but something went wrong against New Orleans March 21. Turner allowed two earned runs in just an inning of work in his seventh and final appearance of the season.

The flame-thrower with the mid-90s fastball and wipeout breaking ball had to face two of the scariest words for any pitcher: Tommy John.

“It sucked because I knew that the team really needed me,” Turner said. “I wanted to help the team out any way possible. It was kind of a shot in the foot.”

And the team was loving his help early in the season. The Bears were 14–6 at the time of the injury, and were just about to open league play in the Missouri Valley Conference. The loss of Turner hurt the Missouri State bullpen, but the team barreled on and turned in one of the best seasons in school history.

The Bears finished 43–20 overall and 18–1 in conference play. After earning a bid to the NCAA tournament, the team won the Fayetteville Regional and advanced to the Super Regional Round for only the third time in program history, before being eliminated there by TCU.

Turner had to watch all of that from home. Instead of traveling with the team, he got a summer job coaching back home and cheered on his teammates from afar.

“We would go out to eat and the games would be on and I would watch very intently and cheer,” Turner said. “I was always with them.”

Turner would have loved to be with the team on that run, but it wasn’t the only reason that the timing of the injury hurt. Turner’s stuff had been so good that he was being talked about as a top-10 round pick in 2017 MLB Draft, a spot that was now in question.

But Turner’s agent was telling him that there was still a shot of being drafted, even after having Tommy John surgery in April, just two months before the draft.

“In the back of my mind I still [thought] ‘I’m probably going to go back, but if I get this shot I think I need to take it,” Turner said.

And he did get his shot. In the 10th round of the 2017 MLB Draft, the Washington Nationals made Turner the 313th overall selection — the third-to-last pick of the second day.

“I was ready to leave the room because it was the last few picks of the day, and then my name got called and I was blown off my feet,” Turner said.

It had always been his dream to play professional baseball, so Turner quickly decided to sign with the Nationals, forgoing his final collegiate season. However, his situation was unique. Most guys sign in mid-June, and by the end of the month are playing minor league baseball. For Turner, he was only two months removed from Tommy John Surgery, and nowhere close to returning to action.

But the Nationals made the selection for a reason, believing Turner would come back with the same electric stuff that made him so good in those 13.1 innings at Missouri State. So the Missouri kid immediately was sent to the Nationals facility in Florida to continue his rehab process.

But even with all of the attention on his rehab and the time spent getting healthy, Turner still wasn’t going to be pitching for another year. But with more time on his hands, Turner had more time for passion outside of baseball — reading.

You can always see Turner reading a book outside the Suns clubhouse, and he has recently been reading The Shack by William Paul Young, which, among other things, has helped Turner find his faith.

Turner says he spends a lot of time relaxing and reading, which is not surprising when you see his calm demeanor around the clubhouse and on the mound, but there are some moments that can speed up the heart rate, especially maybe the biggest moment of his career. After nearly 14 months of rehab, Turner was back on the mound to make his professional debut with the Auburn Doubledays June 16, 2018.

The righty walked two batters in 0.2 innings of work, but escaped without allowing an earned run.

“I was just trying to breathe through the moment,” Turner said. “My heart was beating out of my chest and I was super, super nervous. Unfortunately, my first outing was very bad, but it gave me a lot of learning points.”

The rest of the 2018 season became a learning experience for Turner. In 16 appearances over 18.2 innings between short-season Auburn and the High-A Potomac Nationals, Turner posted a 5.30 ERA. He struck out 24 batters, but also walked 22 in an up-and-down season.

Turner started the 2019 season in Hagerstown, and he has finally found that same success he had before the injury. In 16 appearances and 21.1 innings this season through July 17, Turner has pitched to a 3.80 ERA while striking out 35 batters and walking only 14. He credits his mindset, and a lot of that comes from his reading The Shack and The Bible.

“There’s no expectations on the mound,” he said. “I do what I can do and nothing more. There’s no reason to think about what could happen. There’s no reason for me to be afraid of anything.”

Now, for Trey Turner, with the injuries behind him, it’s about continuing to move up the Nationals system and achieve those big-league dreams. And for Turner, he can see his name on the Nationals major league roster, right next to Trea Turner, Washington’s shortstop who shares an almost-identical name.

But despite his teammates joking with him and calling him ‘the other Trea Turner’, Trey in Hagerstown might have the stuff and mindset to share the field with the other guy who bares his name.