Turner trolls former teammate Scherzer in Phillies-Blue Jays Spring Training game
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Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner took an opportunity to get under the skin of former teammate and current Toronto Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer in their Spring Training game on Sunday.
Following Scherzer's first start with the Blue Jays on Tuesday - which was also his first game pitched with baseball's ABS system - Scherzer had some strong words on the use of “robot umpires” to determine balls and strikes.
"Can we just play baseball?" Scherzer said after the game in which he failed two challenge attempts. "We’re humans. Can we just be judged by humans? Do we really need to disrupt the game? I think humans are defined by humans."
The 40-year-old three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer continued his criticism after the game when talking to reporters.
"I get what we’re trying to do here, but I think major league umpires are really good. They’re really good. So, what are we actually changing here? We know there are going to be strikes that are changed to balls, and balls that are changed to strikes," Scherzer said. "We’re going to basically be even. So, are we actually going to improve the game? Are the umpires really that bad? I don’t think so."
Enter Turner. The pair spent six seasons together with the Washington Nationals from 2015-2020, where they combined to help win the 2019 World Series.
Turner knows Scherzer's fiery personality very well from first-hand experience, and knew after reading the quote he could use it to get Scherzer going.
Scherzer's first pitch of the game was clearly a strike, and both players knew it, but Turner decided to challenge the call anyway to see how Scherzer would react.
“I don’t think he realized that I challenged it,” Turner said after the game. “And then we were just laughing. It was good. In the regular season, it would really piss him off. But now he's kind of faking his little act. But I knew. I just wanted to see his eyes roll. That's what I was going for.”
Scherzer caught on pretty quickly to what Turner was doing, as the players were seen on the broadcast laughing following the challenge.
“They’re just messing with me. There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes there," Scherzer told reporters afterwards. "I can’t take these at-bats seriously. These are practice games going against good friends of mine. Too many good stories together and Trea is obviously one of my favorite teammates of all time.”
Turner popped out to second to end the at-bat, and the two players exchanged words as Turner jogged back to the dugout. They didn't talk about the challenge though, according to Turner.
Not to be lost in all the extracurricular activities surrounding his first two starts in a Blue Jays uniform is the fact that Scherzer has been very strong in consecutive outings.
He finished 3.2 innings against the Phillies with four strikeouts and only one hit allowed - a solo home run. Scherzer is up to 5.2 innings with eight strikeouts through two starts in Spring Training.
The Blue Jays also saw the second home run in as many games for outfielder Daulton Varsho, who is working to get into game shape after undergoing shoulder surgery to correct a rotator cuff injury in his right shoulder over the off-season. Shortstop Bo Bichette hit his first home run of the spring to go with a single.
Bichette has gone 5-for-16 with two runs and a home run. His on-base plus slugging of .978 is encouraging given his struggles at the dish a year ago, where he finished with a .599 OPS in 81 games. The Blue Jays beat the Phillies 5-4 in the game.