Blue Jays – Justin Turner reaches career-hit milestone on single to right field against Baltimore

The Blue Jays continue to keep their milestone streak going of consecutive first innings with zero runs on the scoreboard but one of their players reached a positive milestone earlier tonight against the Baltimore Orioles that deserves some celebration.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, 1B/DH Justin Turner collected his 1,500th career hit on a bloop single to shallow right field against Baltimore starter Albert Suárez.

While playing for the Orioles, Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Blue Jays, the 39-year-old righty has had a prosperous career throughout his 16 MLB seasons. He has been named to two All-Star teams, he’s placed in the Top 10 in National League MVP voting twice, and he was the 2020 NLCS MVP with the Dodgers which earned him his first and only World Series ring. He’s also posted an OPS north of .800 in nine of his previous ten full seasons, and he has eclipsed 30 doubles six times over his career.

Turner is well within striking distance of a couple of other career milestones, and they could very well happen while he is a Blue Jay this season.

As of the fifth inning during Wednesday night’s game, he needs only 9 more home runs to reach 200, 21 more RBIs to reach 800, 8 more games to reach 1,600, and 28 more plate appearances to reach 6,000. The 1,500 hits tie him with Buster Posey, Mike Bordick, and Manny Sanguillen for 662nd all-time. He also now has four more hits than Blue Jays legend Jose Bautista and he needs only two more hits to pass former Jays Yunel Escobar and Aaron Hill.

Turner signed a one-year, $13 million deal with Toronto this offseason, serving as the team’s potential solution to their need for more offensive production. He was one of Toronto’s better hitters in March and April, slashing .298/.376/.511 with a .887 OPS, four homers, and 15 RBIs. However, his production took quite a dip in May as his slash line was a feeble .111/.210/.139 with a .349 OPS as he went through one of the worst slumps of his career.