As the old saying goes, “There’s no ‘I’ in team.” In the case of the N.C. State baseball team, this saying is far from the truth.
Sophomore star shortstop Trea Turner missed 10 games this season, 11 away from the field, with a severe high ankle sprain. The team finished 5-5 in Turner’s absence. With Turner in the lineup, the team has excelled, with a 24-5 record.
Turner leads the team with a .420 batting average, 5 home runs, 15 stolen bases and a .670 slugging percentage, and is second on the team with 29 RBIs — an RBI per game average.
In 63 games last season, all starts for Turner, he finished with a .336 batting average, 43 RBIs and 5 home runs, the same number of homers through 29 games this season for Turner.
The All-American suffered his injury March 8 in the late innings against Clemson in the opening Atlantic Coast Conference series matchup for the season. Turner returned March 23 in the second game of a double-header against Virginia, replacing redshirt freshman designated hitter Brian Taylor. He went 0-2 with an RBI in his first action since the injury.
Since his return to the lineup, and the field at shortstop, State is 11-1.
Head coach Elliott Avent and the rest of the team, as well as the rest of the sports world, would say that one player can’t change the outcome of a game. But the sad truth is that State is an average team without Turner.
He can hit, get on base, field almost any ground ball hit his way and is among the fastest players in collegiate baseball, if not the fastest.
Without Turner, State fell to UNC-Greensboro. Yes, UNC-G of the Southern Conference that has a record of 17-20, who sits second to last in their conference.
Perhaps the preseason rankings were a bit too high for a team that lost many great starters, resulting in a lot of pressure on sophomore ace pitcher Carlos Rodon, catcher Brett Austin, outfielder Jake Fincher and Turner.
The team went on a 5-5 slump without Turner. Slumps happen to every team, but stats don’t lie. The numbers show that the team struggles to score without the Lake Worth, Fla. native.
In Turner’s absence, through 10 games, the team averaged 4.5 runs per game. Through the 29 games that he participated in, the team averages 7.2 runs per game.
State could go on another slump, they could lose 10 games in a row with Turner in the lineup, but it’s a doubtful scenario.
There are few players in the history of sports who could carry a team that without them would completely crumble — Turner is one of them.
Turner is essential to the team’s success. He gets on base nearly 50 percent of the time with a 48.9 on base percentage. And when he’s on base, he has the ability to steal almost at will, putting himself in scoring position.
Turner is a special athlete. Depending on how his ankle heals, Turner will find success at any level of baseball in which he plays. He and many of the players for State have promising careers ahead of them — but Turner takes the cake, or base.
