After Trea Turner fielded the first grounder of the game Monday, third baseman Bryson Stott came over and gave the Phillies shortstop’s glove a tap.
Or rather, Stott tapped his own glove. It just happened to be on Turner’s wrist, because he was borrowing it.
The glove, a custom black model with red lacing, is from Rawlings’ Pro Preferred line. It’s also embroidered with Stott’s last name and his No. 5 in red. Turner has used it for the past few weeks while fielding grounders pregame, but Monday was the first time he tried it out in a game.
It was tested right away. On the first pitch of the game, Marlins outfielder Estury Ruiz hit a grounder to the hole between short and third. Turner was playing deep enough to cut it off, jump, and make the throw to first while in midair.
“It kind of gave me a little bit [of a] different feeling [on] ground balls,” Turner said. “It’s a lot different than what I have. It’s a lot longer.”
While it looks just like the glove Stott was using a few feet away at third, the one Turner borrowed was an extra, brand-new glove that he then broke in himself. (“I wouldn’t let him touch mine,” Stott said. “I wouldn’t let anyone touch mine.”)
Stott has been using the same Rawlings model for a while. At the beginning of each season, he receives several Rawlings models.
“I break one in and fall in love with that one,” Stott said, “and then I have three or four extra.”
Turner was looking for a change after his defensive struggles had reached a fever pitch this season. He made four errors in four games after the All-Star break, along with other miscues that weren’t scored as errors but were mistakes, regardless.
So he asked Stott to borrow one of his extras.
“Just having this on my hand feels like a little different,” Turner said. “I feel like I make a little bit [of] different decisions.”
Stott’s gloves are a 12-inch model, which is on the larger side for an infielder — excluding first base, of course. He kept the same one when he made the position switch from second to third base to open a spot for Luis Arraez.
Turner said his old glove was also 12 inches, but other differences in the glove’s design cause Stott’s to feel longer.
“It kind of helped me make some plays that I don’t think I was doing perfectly,” he said. “To me, I was thinking about the other day. It’s kind of like using a different bat, whether it’s lighter, heavier, you know, longer, whatever. It’s the same swing, it’s the same player, but sometimes you just get a different feel of it.”
Ruiz’s groundout to open Monday’s game had an expected batting average of .260. It’s a play that earlier in the season Turner wasn’t making on a consistent basis.
Turner’s struggles this season are well-documented. He has posted minus-6 outs above average and minus-11 defensive runs saved at shortstop this season. His 18 errors this year have already surpassed his full-season total of 17 from 2025.
But Turner also hasn’t made an error since July 27. In August so far, he has recorded plus-3 OAA. He’s been working on not setting up too early on ground balls hit to him, which he identified as an issue leading to his misplays. And even if Turner has only used Stott’s glove in one game so far, he also thinks that’s helping, too.
The only drawback Turner has found in the borrowed glove is the bigger size made it initially harder to make the transfer from glove to throwing hand. But he didn’t have any problems with that on Monday, and he thinks he’ll stick with it going forward.
“It’s funny. It’s like sometimes when I think I’m going to transfer well, I transfer bad, and sometimes when I think I’m going to transfer it bad, I transfer it well, and I think it’s just kind of getting used to the glove, and the shape, and stuff like that,” Turner said. “But as far as just like playing shortstop and regular ground balls, it feels good.”
Extra bases
Aaron Nola (4-9, 5.33 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday’s series finale opposite Miami right-hander Sandy Alcantara (13-7, 3.43).
