Miami Marlins, Washington Nationals

Trea Turner gives us tag of the season as he nails Jazz Chisholm (Video)

Trea Turner pulled off a masterful play at shortstop against the Marlins.

Miami Marlins rookie Jazz Chisholm might be struggling at the plate right now, but his speed remains firmly in the upper tier. Don Mattingly wanted to kick-start Chisholm’s confidence against the Washington Nationals by helping him cause havoc on the basepaths, but nats shortstop Trea Turner had other ideas in mind for the rookie.

Chisholm was nailed on a stolen base attempt by Turner, as he hauled in an errant Yan Gomes throw and applied the tag to Chisholm without looking. In a move reminiscent of Chicago Cubs shortstop Javier Baez, Turner confirmed that he is a truly elite defensive infielder.

Trea Turner is once again one of the league’s best shortstops

While Turner is 0-3 in this game, this minor bump in the road only lowered his batting average to .338. Turner is leading the NL in hits and tripled while clouting nine home runs on the season. If Washington wasn’t performing so poorly, Turner might’ve gotten some MVP consideration this season.

Not much has gone right for the defending champs after Anthony Rendon left in free agency and Stephen Strasburg was hampered with injuries, but Turner sustaining his elite production and increasing the frequency at which he uncorks web gems in the field had to be a very encouraging sign.

The Nationals currently sit at 18-29, which almost identical to their record through 47 games last year before they turned it around. While they have almost run out of time to correct themselves and will almost assuredly be watching the postseason from the comfort of their living room, they can take solace in the fact that a player of Turner’s caliber is primed and ready to help them compete in 2021, when they’ll be at full strength once again.

Next: The Nats will get a Dave Martinez deal done soon

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