Dodgers News: Trea Turner Gets a Breather, Not a 'Benching'

Trea Turner got his first day out of the starting lineup on Friday, a decision he doesn't love but recognizes as wise given the Dodgers' team goals.

For the first 130 games of the 2022 Dodgers season, Trea Turner's name was penciled in as the starting shortstop on manager Dave Roberts' lineup card.

That changed in game 131 on Friday, when Turner got his first day off of the season.

Turner joked with reporters before the game that he pressed Roberts on whether he was benched, and when Roberts met with the media in the Dodgers dugout prior to the game, he continued that joking thread.

"He calls it a benching. It's certainly not a benching. I just felt that it was best for for him and for all of us."

Turner, for his part, didn't disagree. While reiterating that he would rather play every day, he said:

“I knew it was gonna come eventually. I fought him off for 125 games, so I knew it was gonna happen eventually. And you know, he’s probably right in the sense that it’s probably a good time. Like I said, I feel good, so I want to play, but it probably makes sense to take a quick breather and get back out there tomorrow.”

Turner and Freddie Freeman each started the first 130 games of the year for Los Angeles, and Freeman was in the lineup for game 131, too. A reporter asked Turner if he would be campaigning to make sure Freeman has to sit, too, and Trea laughed.

"He’s been trying to give Freddie [a day off] too, I know he’s been knocking on his door, but it’s on him. If he wants to play all of them, he can play all of them, but I know Doc’s gonna try to get him out of at least one, so we’ll see."

With Friday's decision, we know Turner won't be the first Dodger since Eric Karros in 1997 to start every game. Freeman probably won't, either. But the goal of Roberts and every player on the team is to win the last game in November, and if a day off now and then gets them there, they will take it.