{"id":125117,"date":"2019-10-22T09:55:24","date_gmt":"2019-10-22T13:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/?p=125117"},"modified":"2025-10-19T17:10:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T21:10:59","slug":"former-tincap-trea-turner-to-play-in-world-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aroundfortwayne.com\/news\/2019\/10\/22\/former-tincap-trea-turner-to-play-in-world-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Former TinCap Trea Turner to Play in World Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Former TinCaps shortstop Trea Turner is set to play in the World Series for the Washington Nationals.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

News release from the Fort Wayne TinCaps:<\/p>\n

Former TinCap Trea Turner to Play in World Series<\/strong>
\nMore Than Half of Nationals & Astros Rosters Have Come Through the Midwest League<\/em><\/p>\n

Fort Wayne, Indiana (October 22, 2019) \u2014 Former TinCaps shortstop Trea Turner is set to play in the World Series for the Washington Nationals. The 2014 \u2019Caps star will be matched up against his old Fort Wayne manager, Michael Collins, who now serves as the Houston Astros\u2019 catching coach.<\/p>\n

Turner was selected by the San Diego Padres with the 13th overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft out of North Carolina State. The Florida native made his pro debut with the Eugene Emeralds, San Diego\u2019s short-season affiliate at the time. After 23 games in the Northwest League, Turner, then 21 years old, was transferred to Fort Wayne on July 12.<\/p>\n

When Turner joined the TinCaps, the team had lost a franchise-record 13 consecutive games. But with Turner, Fort Wayne went 28-21 and surged into the Midwest League Playoffs, even upsetting the West Michigan Whitecaps in the opening round to advance to the Eastern Division Championship Series.<\/p>\n

From the time he made his TinCaps debut through the end of the regular season, Turner led all players in Minor League Baseball in hits with 69 in 46 games. He also led the Midwest League in on-base percentage (.447) and batting average (.369), while ranking third in OPS (.976). In addition, Turner was tops on the \u2019Caps in slugging percentage (.529), stolen bases (14), doubles (14), walks (24), runs (31), total bases (99), and tied for the high in triples (2). He was spectacular defensively at shortstop, too.<\/p>\n

Though he didn\u2019t log enough plate appearances to qualify for official franchise records, Turner\u2019s .369 batting average is the highest ever in Fort Wayne\u2019s 27-year history for any player with at least 155 plate appearances in a season. Turner\u2019s .976 OPS is second to only James Darnell\u2019s .986 OPS in the first half of 2009. (Darnell went on to play in 25 games for the Padres in 2011-12.)<\/p>\n

With comparable data on FanGraphs.com readily available back to 2006, Turner\u2019s .369 batting average is the fifth highest for a Midwest League player with 155-plus plate appearances in a season, trailing only Oscar Tavares (.386, Quad Cities, 2011), Bo Bichette (.384, Lansing, 2017), Ben Revere (.379, Beloit, 2008), and Myles Straw (.374, Quad Cities, 2016).<\/p>\n

A year after he was drafted, Turner was traded by the Padres to the Nationals in 2015. He made his big-league debut that August and quickly became one of the sports\u2019 most electric players. Turner won a pair of National League Player of the Month awards in 2016 and made Baseball America\u2019s All-Rookie Team as he finished fifth in the NL in both stolen bases (33) and triples (8). Turner hasn\u2019t slowed down since, leading the NL in stolen bases last year with 43 while he was one of only seven players in the majors to appear in 162 games. He finished second in the NL in stolen bases this season with 35, despite spending a month-and-a-half on the Injured List. Turner is Washington\u2019s starting shortstop and leadoff batter.<\/p>\n

As for Collins, he had a seven-year stint as a coach and manager in the Padres\u2019 organization from 2011-17, including 2014 in Fort Wayne, before joining the Astros as their bullpen catcher.<\/p>\n

More than half of the players for both the Astros and the Nationals have appeared in the Midwest League. Houston has been affiliated with the Quad Cities River Bandits since 2013. Washington is affiliated with the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League (equivalent to the Midwest League).<\/p>\n

Washington Nationals<\/strong><\/p>\n