Trea breaks out signature slide ... on defense!

July 22nd, 2022

LOS ANGELES -- By now, odds are you’ve seen Trea Turner’s signature smooth slide. In one fluid motion, the All-Star shortstop hits the ground and seamlessly pops back up, all in the blink of an eye. 

Usually, Turner breaks out the move on the basepaths. In Thursday night's 9-6 comeback win over the Giants at Dodger Stadium, the shortstop used it to help make a catch in foul territory.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Giants’ Joc Pederson popped a 2-1 Mitch White curveball down the third-base line. Turner turned the burners on, running down the ball at an elite 30 feet per second, according to Statcast.

It was no easy play, as Turner, stationed deep and close to second base as part of a shift, had to cover 93 feet on a popup with a hang time of 4.8 seconds.

"It was incredible," said manager Dave Roberts. "I don’t know if I've seen anyone that can get such good style points on a slide. It was sort of him sliding at home, but with a baseball glove on and making a play. So I give him a lot of show points for that one."

White couldn’t help but grin, showing his appreciation by joining the Dodger Stadium crowd in giving Turner a round of applause.

"It was awesome," said White. "I didn't know if he was going to get there. Obviously, he was shifted over. [But] he made a sweet play and sweet slide. It was cool."