Spring training is a time for players to get their swing locked in, to learn a new pitch, to get familiar with a new position, and to troll their best buddies. Phillies shortstop Trea Turner made sure to do some trolling Sunday afternoon.
Turner challenged a called strike on the very first pitch of Sunday’s game (GameTracker) against the Blue Jays just to get under the skin of longtime Nationals teammate Max Scherzer. The obvious strike call was upheld on replay, though Turner’s wry smile tells you all you need to know about his real intentions:
Turner’s troll job came five days after Scherzer said he was a “little skeptical” about the ABS challenge system after several appeals went against him in his spring debut. “We’re humans. Can we just be judged by humans?” Scherzer added (via The Athletic). Turner noticed and made sure to mess with his pal at the first opportunity.
“Of course. Not a doubt in my mind,” Scherzer told Sportsnet when asked whether he thinks Turner was messing with him Sunday. “… Trea’s obviously one of my favorite teammates of all time. We’ll have a good laugh about it.”
Turner and Scherzer were teammates with the Nationals from 2015 to 2021, when they were traded together to the Dodgers at the deadline. They won a World Series together with Washington in 2019. These aren’t two longtime big leaguers who crossed paths at All-Star Games. Turner and Scherzer played together a long, long time.
Honestly, given his competitive nature and on-mound demeanor, I don’t think anyone could have trolled Scherzer and gotten away with it the way Turner did Sunday without having been his longtime teammate. Even as his career winds down, few pitchers in the game are as intimidating as Scherzer.
MLB is testing the automatic strike zone (ABS for automated balls and strikes) challenge system this spring. Here’s everything you need to know about ABS challenges, which could come to MLB as soon as 2026.
sentence: Can you please turn off the lights before you leave the room?