SAN DIEGO -- Don Mattingly has been peppered with questions over the past few weeks about potentially moving a struggling Trea Turner out of the leadoff spot.
The Phillies' interim manager had been resistant to that change -- until now.
Turner was bumped down to second in the order for Tuesday night's 4-3 win over the Padres at Petco Park. Kyle Schwarber stepped into the leadoff spot, while Bryce Harper stayed at No. 3.
"The Trea thing, again we talked about it yesterday, you're not really doing anything a whole lot different," Mattingly said. "You're just looking for a little different feel for him."
Whatever the reason, the Phillies are hoping to find some sort of spark for the reigning National League batting champion -- and they may have done just that.
Turner, who entered Tuesday hitting .221 with a .277 on-base percentage and a .608 OPS, smashed a Statcast-projected 434-foot solo homer in the top of the third inning. He added a base hit in the fifth, then notched his 10th stolen base of the season.
Prior to his multihit effort against the Padres, Turner had gone 0-for-16 with six strikeouts over the past four games. He entered the night hitting just .178 (16-for-90) with a .475 OPS in May.
Turner wasn’t the only slumping Phillie to potentially turn a corner on Tuesday night. J.T. Realmuto hit his first homer since April 1 -- and just his second of the season -- en route to reaching base three times. The home run also marked Realmuto’s 500th extra-base hit of his career.
Along with a Harper solo shot in the first, the Phils provided just enough offense for Aaron Nola to earn only his second win in his past nine outings. The veteran right-hander turned in a much-needed bounce-back effort, allowing just two runs over six innings -- and both runs scored on a two-run homer after Turner misplayed a potential inning-ending groundout.
Turner was a catalyst atop the lineup last season. He led the NL with a .304 average, while his .312 average specifically out of the leadoff spot was the fourth best in the Majors. That set the table for a Phillies offense that ranked eighth in the Majors in runs per game (4.8).
This year, however, the Phils entered Tuesday tied for 22nd in runs per game (4.0).
While Schwarber is tied for the MLB lead with eight first-inning home runs, Turner has been on base for only two of those. The other six -- all out of the No. 2 spot -- have been solo shots.
"Obviously, it's not ideal," Mattingly said. "You'd like that [leadoff] guy to be getting on base, especially when you've got Schwarb and Harp coming up. But it's not a situation that you think is going to sustain itself. Trea's going to get it together. ... So yeah, it's not ideal, but it kind of is what it is right now."
Mattingly isn't expecting Turner to suddenly see better pitches or magically flip a switch just because he's hitting second. But we have seen Schwarber immediately put the opposing starter on his heels enough times over the past few years that maybe Turner steps to the plate in a more favorable spot.
Schwarber -- who ranks among the top 10 all-time in leadoff homers -- led all players in leadoff blasts during his time as the Phillies' primary leadoff man from 2022-24. In fact, despite Tuesday marking only the 15th time Schwarber has hit leadoff over the past two seasons, he still has 10 more leadoff homers than any other player going back to 2022.
Turner, of course, hit second behind Schwarber for the majority of those games. The speedy shortstop has hit second nearly as many times (516) as he's hit leadoff (633) in his career.
So, could this be a more permanent swap atop the lineup?
"I mean, I think we just see, right?" Mattingly said. "Schwarbs has hit first a lot. Trea has hit two, he's hit one. I really don't think it's a big deal, honestly, which one's which. I'd like to get Trea going, and really hopefully, just give a little different feel to where he's at."
The one potential hiccup to this arrangement is Schwarber potentially slowing down Turner if the two are on base together. Turner, who remains one of the fastest players in baseball, stole 36 bases last season and is 10-for-11 on steal attempts this year.
"I told Schwarbs that he's got the green light and Trea would take pitches for him," Mattingly joked. "So those two are good."
Kidding aside, Mattingly’s focus for now is on getting Turner out of his two-month funk. After all, he can't steal bases anyway if he's not getting on base in the first place.
"I'm not really worried about it," Mattingly said of Schwarber potentially impacting Turner's baserunning. "With Trea, I'm worried more about wanting him to get on and get going than I am worried about him on the bases."