Trea Turner feels ‘confident’ about his recovery, but Phillies weigh the value of playing him this weekend

When Trea Turner strained his right hamstring nearly three weeks ago, he was leading the National League in hitting.

Nothing has changed.

“My family and my dad, my wife, they like to let me know,” Turner, frozen at .305, said Thursday. “Sitting and watching is a little tough because you want to be out there, you want to be competing. So they’re keeping track of that.”

Whether he returns to the Phillies’ lineup over the weekend — a decision hasn’t been made, according to Turner and manager Rob Thomson, although all parties agree that he’ll be ready for the postseason — the star shortstop has enough plate appearances to qualify for the batting title — and a .004-point lead over the Chicago Cubs’ Nico Hoerner.

» READ MORE: The Phillies should get Trea Turner back this season. But which player will they have for the playoffs?

The Phillies haven’t had a batting champion since Richie Ashburn in 1958.

“It would be nice to win in a long season,” Turner said. “That’s a cool award and a tough one to win. Selfishly, it would be nice, obviously. But the postseason is more important.”

Turner said some variation of that last phrase — “the postseason is more important” — four times in less than 10 minutes after going through agility drills with the training staff. For a third consecutive day, he got at-bats against three minor league pitchers (lefty Andrew Walling and righties Tommy McCollum and Daniel Harper). He tested his hamstring by running and taking grounders.

“Today,” Turner said, “was probably my best day so far.”

But the Phillies, with input from Turner, are weighing the value of a handful of at-bats in meaningless games against the Twins this weekend with the potential risk of pushing his hamstring too soon.

“I really don’t feel anything anymore,“ Turner said. “Grounders feel 100%; live at-bats feel 100%. It’s just getting to that sprint speed and feeling like I can let it go and not think about it.

“Because as you push it more and more, you start to wonder, ‘Can I do it? Can I do it?’ Today I felt like there was less of that. Today I felt like I was moving the best I’ve been moving. I feel like I’m running normal today and not thinking about it so much, and all those things are good things.”

» READ MORE: Inside Trea Turner’s remarkable improvement at shortstop that has turned him into an MVP candidate

As he gauges progress, Turner has a basis for comparison. Last season, he missed 44 games with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring. Upon his return, he didn’t attempt a stolen base for 15 games.

Two key differences: This time, the strain is milder (Grade 1). And whereas Turner was able to ease his way back last June, his return this year will coincide with Game 1 of the division series next Saturday.

If Turner plays this weekend, he said it’s because he’s “feeling pretty close to 100%, if not 100%.” Last weekend, he told Thomson he was running at about 60%. A few days ago, Thomson estimated that Turner was closer to 75%.

“I don’t really know, percentage-wise, what I’m at, but I do think today was the most confident, the smoothest, all those things,” Turner said. “You’re never really going to know if you’re 100% until you play in a real game and you go and run. I can sit here and run sprints for another month, and you won’t know until you’re in an actual game.

“That’s how I felt last [year]. That’s kind of how I feel now. You just try to get as healthy as you can, as good as you can, and then when it’s time to kind of rip that Band-Aid off. You do it and then you feel it out. I don’t think there’s any sure thing of playing in a game and feeling that adrenaline and all those things, so I don’t think you’ll know until you play. ”

Turner is less concerned about regaining his timing at the plate. He went 25-for-75 with five homers in his first 17 games back last year and believes he was swinging the bat well enough when he got injured to maintain his timing over the last three weeks.

» READ MORE: The Phillies set goals for Trea Turner in 2025, and he has bought in: ‘He’s doing everything we asked’

But Turner has missed other things, including the Phillies’ division-clinching party at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 15. He stayed in Philadelphia to receive treatment and was unable to join in the celebration.

“Didn’t watch anything,” he said. “I was too jealous.”

Not even the final out?

“I didn’t really watch the game until my dad texted me late,” Turner said. “It was probably like 1 a.m., He texted me, and then I watched the end. I was like, ‘All right, I’ll watch,’ and then I saw everybody in the locker room, and I was like, ‘I can’t watch this.’ I’ve been there for 150-whatever straight days, and then obviously the one day I’m not there, they do that. Obviously, I’m happy. I’m a part of it. I get all that, but I didn’t want to watch it.”

Besides, Turner is counting on the Phillies doing it again a few times in October.

The Phillies presented the Paul Owens Award to Otto Kemp and Griff McGarry, their minor league player and pitcher of the year, respectively. Double-A manager Al Pedrique and area scout Tommy Field were honored with the John Vukovich and Dallas Green awards for coaching and scouting excellence, respectively. … The Phillies will face right-hander Mick Abel, their 2020 first-round pick and former top prospect, on Saturday. Abel was traded to the Twins at the deadline for closer Jhoan Duran. … Aaron Nola (4-10, 6.46 ERA) is scheduled to start at 6:45 p.m. Friday against Twins righty Joe Ryan (13-9, 3.47).