It has been a carousel at second base for the New York Mets in only a month and a half of the season. They started with Brad Emaus but he was recently sent back to the Blue Jays and then traded to the Rockies after the Mets drafted him in the Rule 5 Draft this past offseason. Then they tried Daniel Murphy but watching him play second base is like looking at a crash on the interstate, it is so horrific that you can not look away. Murphy is much better at first base and is doing a great job since Ike Davis was placed on the disabled list with an ankle sprain. But now the answer could be in Justin Turner.
"Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports"
Turner is just 26 years old and has a lifetime minor league average of .304. He was drafted by the Reds in the 7th round of the 2006 draft and played every position in rookie ball except catcher and pitcher. When the reds promoted him to Single-A, he was mainly playing second, shortstop, and third base. After three seasons in the Reds organization he was part of the trade that sent Ryan Freel to the Orioles for catcher Ramon Hernandez. He made his major debut in September of 2009 with the Orioles and returned to the big leagues the following year when he played second base for the injured Brian Roberts. The Mets came into the picture when they claimed Turner off waivers in May of last season and sent him to Triple-A Buffalo.
Including this season he has only played in 41 career big league games, but recently started showing why the mets took a chance on the California native. He is currently batting .356 with one home run and 15 RBI. Back on May 15 he drove in 5 runs, a two-run double in the 5th inning and 3-run home run in the 6th to help the Mets defeat the Astros, 7-4. That game started a string of seven straight games with an RBI.
In such short a short career he has shown he not intimated by major league pitching and could be the future second baseman. It’s beneficial knowing Turner can play more than just second as he has now taken the place of the injured David Wright at third base after the Mets promoted Ruben Tejada to the big leagues to play second for the time being. That .304 minor league average will be in tact for awhile because Turner isn’t leaving the major leagues anytime soon.
