Phillies need to give Turner more than just a day off

It should have been the final out of a Phillies win. 

It should have been scored Trea Turner’s 14th error of the season.

It turned out to be neither. Not because the official scorer took pity on Turner for a hard-hit ball, but because the Phillies’ shortstop had misplayed the grounder so badly that he never made contact with it on its way to the outfield.

Josh Bell’s ground ball single through Turner scored the tying run in the 11th inning, turning a Phillies win into an embarrassing 9-8 loss to the Marlins, a team against which the Phils had a golden opportunity to push further down the trough in the NL wild-card race.

Turner stepped up after the game, taking the mantle for the extra-inning loss in front of cameras and reporters. The Phillies and their fans would rather he step up on the field more often.

Turner’s struggles are to the point to where the manager needs to make a decision on whether to play him in the everyday lineup — not exactly where Rob Thomson wants to find himself.

Thomson should give Turner several days off to clear his head, to find himself, to recalibrate and recapture the magic that has made him one of the most exciting players in the game today.

To be fair, it’s not as though the team will miss his offensive output. Since April 18, when he was batting .338 through 16 games, he has a .633 OPS — nearly 200 points below his career average — ranking him in the bottom 10 of all qualified players over that span.

Whether the offense is affecting the defense, or vice versa, we don’t know. But the defense is suffering as well. His 13 errors this season are just three off his career high, with one-third of the regular season left.

While his play has been frustrating, it’s far too early to write Turner off. He has far too much talent for it all to just erode over the span of four months. Remember the World Baseball Classic this past spring? Some of his titanic home runs may still be traveling through the stratosphere.

He is searching for answers, and some time away from his job may help him find them. John Middleton and Dave Dombrowski invested quite a bit in Turner, and aren’t getting much return. This is a player they envisioned carrying the team toward perennial deep postseason runs. Right now, he is not producing much faith that he will produce in high-leverage situations.

Maybe a week off will hit the reset button for the superstar, and he can rejoin the starting lineup refreshed and ready to steamroll into October.

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