Dodgers Team News

Dodgers News: Justin Turner Still Not Worried About Musgrove, Padres

At the end of June, Justin Turner hit two home runs off Padres ace Joe Musgrove to lead the Dodgers to a 3-1 win. After that game, Musgrove was not impressed.

“Out of all the guys in the (Dodgers’) lineup, I didn’t feel like he was a huge threat,” Musgrove said after that game.



On Sunday, the Dodgers beat Musgrove again, with the first of JT’s two homers (again) opening the scoring off Musgrove. Turner later added a grand slam off Craig Stammen to put the game out of reach.

Musgrove could not be reached for comment on Threat Level: Justin, and both Turner and manager Dave Roberts were unconcerned with Musgrove’s previous comments. In fact, Roberts either hadn’t heard the comments at the time or had already forgotten, as Bill Plunkett reports in the Orange County Register.

“I think he might want to retract that,” Roberts said. “I didn’t hear that. I don’t remember that one. But I certainly see him and value him as a threat in our lineup.”

Coming into that June 30 game, Turner was batting .217 with a .634 OPS, although in hindsight he was already starting to turn on the jets — .286 with a .772 OPS in his previous 10 games.

That two-homer performance really jumpstarted Turner’s season, though. Beginning with that game, JT is hitting .371 with a 1.057 OPS over the past two-plus months.

Turner doesn’t see any correlation between Musgrove’s comments and his success, though.

“I’m not worried about what’s going on over there. I’m worried about our guys in here and winning ballgames,” Turner said.

“I mean, yeah, I think it is a coincidence. Otherwise, I’d have asked people to say stuff about me a lot sooner in the year and I’d have a lot better season going. Like I said, I don’t pay attention to what’s going on in other people’s houses. Just worry about our business, take care of our stuff in here.”

Starting with that two-homer game on June 30, the Dodgers are 50-15 during JT’s remarkable hot streak. They are taking care of business as a team, and Turner is doing more than his part.

For a guy who looked cooked early in the season and looked like he wasn’t a “huge threat,” JT is having quite a season.

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Jeff Snider

Jeff was born into a Dodgers family in Southern California and is now raising a Dodgers family of his own in Utah. During his previous career as an executive at a technology company, he began writing about baseball in his spare time. After leaving corporate America in 2014, he started doing it professionally. Jeff wrote and edited for Baseball Essential for years before joining Dodgers Nation. He's also the co-host of the Locked On Dodgers podcast, a daily podcast that brings the smart fan's perspective on our Boys in Blue. Jeff has a degree in English from Brigham Young University. Favorite Player: Clayton Kershaw Favorite Moment: Kirk Gibson's homer will always have a place, but Kershaw's homer on Opening Day 2013 might be the winner.

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