Sports

Why Ryan Howard believes Trea Turner will have "blow-up September" for Phillies

August 9, 2023 / 10:04 AM EDT / CBS Philadelphia

Ryan Howard on similarities between Nick Castellanos' and Trea Turner's first seasons with Phillies

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Phillies legend Ryan Howard is on the record being against fans booing their own players. So, what happened this past weekend in Philadelphia with Trea Turner is an example of what makes Philly fans so special.

The Phillies returned home Friday after a 4-3 road trip that saw Turner's struggles continue, both at the plate and in the field. Instead of turning on Turner, a Reddit campaign saw some fans donate to a charity close to the shortstop's heart. Additionally, sports radio pushed for fans to give Turner a standing ovation. Phillies fans responded by doing so all weekend.

"Man, we got to build up, not break down, you know what I'm saying? We've been saying this all along, man," Howard said in an interview with CBS News Philadelphia sports director Don Bell. "When you can go and build guys up and continue to lift them up, then they feed off that energy."

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"I think one of the things last year that made me so happy for seeing those guys not only make the postseason for the first time in a long time but making it to the World Series, they got to experience what Philadelphia is really like from a fan standpoint from the other side," Howard added. "Just as hard as they can be on you, they love you twice as hard."

Has the fans' standing ovation worked? Time will tell, but Turner has started to resemble the player the Phillies thought they were getting since Friday night.

While it's a small sample size, Turner had a massive go-ahead three-run homer in Saturday's 9-6 win over the Royals, then a double his next at-bat.

In fact, he has an extra-base hit in four straight games for the first time as a Phillie. In five games since the first ovation, Turner is hitting .368/.400/.737 with a 1.137 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS). Five of his seven hits have gone for extra bases.

"When you have the fans behind, they're trying to lift you when you know, 'Hey the dude's struggling, we got to pick him up. We can't keep burying this guy. We have to try to pick him up,'" Howard said. "That's when things I think will start to turn around and you'll see Trea … I'm going to go out there and say Trea is going to have a blow-up September."

Catch the full interview with Ryan Howard this weekend streaming on CBS News Philadelphia and CBSPhiladelphia.com.

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Tom Dougherty

Tom Dougherty is a digital content producer for CBS Philadelphia. Before joining CBS Philadelphia, Tom covered sports for NBC Sports Philadelphia. He currently covers breaking news and sports.