The Chicago Cubs thought they made a shrewd signing to fill out their roster heading into the 2025 season, but so far the addition of Justin Turner has been underwhelming to say the least. Sure, the 40-year-old brings a track record of results, a winning pedigree and a great presence in the clubhouse. However, sooner rather than later, the production on the field may warrant a trade to replace the struggling veteran.
Turner joined the Cubs with one main goal in mind: to platoon with Michael Busch at first base in 2025. A career 124 wRC+ hitter against left-handed pitching that included a 119 wRC+ in 2024, Turner seemed like the ideal partner to pair up with Busch, who hasn't had much success facing lefties, albeit in a smaller sample size, throughout his young career. While the Cubs feature one of the best offenses in MLB, Turner hasn't exactly done what the Cubs expected from him, and rumblings of a replacement are beginning.
Justin Turner is struggling mightily at the plate
It's only been a 106 plate-appearance sample size for Turner on the Cubs this year, but regardless he hasn't come close to matching his previous production. The right-handed hitter is slashing .211/.302/.267, with a total of three extra-base hits: one home run and two doubles. Turner is striking out 18.9 percent of the time, marking the first year since 2014, that Turner's strikeout rate is above 18 percent.
His primary job has been to hit lefties, and although the numbers are better there, they're still below average. In Turner's 52 plate appearances vs. LHP so far in 2025, he's slashing .255/.308/.340, which comes out to an 86 wRC+.
In a recent episode of, "North Side Territory," a Cubs podcast hosted by Sahadev Sharma and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic, Turner's future status with the club was discussed. While looking to upgrade a platoon bench bat may not be a top priority for the Cubs this summer, it shouldn't be ignored.
At some point Turner has to produce or he could end up with the same fate as recent veteran signings for the Cubs like Eric Hosmer and Trey Mancini.
Sharma brought up an exchange with Cubs manager Craig Counsell, who left the door open to upgrading the entire roster instead of solely focusing on the pitching staff. Sure, that could simply be manager speak, but it caught the attention of Sharma.
Via North Side Territory:
"When I heard that, I said, 'Ok, they're looking for any way to improve.' Maybe this is an area that we could look at and say a month from now, month and a half from now, Justin Turner still hasn't found his groove ... now if I'm the Cubs I give Justin Turner plenty of leash here because he has shown that he can turn it around. He has a knack for hitting. He's a great value in the clubhouse, but at a certain point you need production. It's not going to cost an arm and a leg. This is a pure platoon guy, this is a guy who just hits lefties, a guy who can handle first base on occasion. Just goes out there when there's solely a lefty, pinch-hits late in a game, whatever it is, pure bench bat, which Justin Turner is at the moment. You're looking for someone who crushes lefties. I don't know if they're going to get this person, I'm just saying, hey, maybe that's a second tertiary need and it's not something that will empty out the farm system."
Justin Turner's power appears to be fading
It's tough to dive too deep into Turner's numbers so far in 2025, because we are only talking about 106 trips to the plate, so how can you really make any conclusions based on that? And hey, maybe there is hope that Turner picks it up. From April 23 through June 8, he's slashing .259/.323/.352, resulting in a 93 wRC+. Specifically against lefties during this stretch Turner has posted a 95 wRC+, batting .273 in 34 plate appearances.
The concerning issue with Turner is that despite some recent success against lefties he's just not giving the team much power. Even in 2024, when Turner turned a slow start into a solid end he only slugged .346 vs. lefties in the final two months of the season. After posting a solid .455 slugging % in 2023 with the Boston Red Sox, Turner's 2024 campaign finished with a .383 slugging % during his time with the Toronto Blue Jays and Seattle Mariners.
We've seen the Cubs offense struggle against two of the very best left-handed starting pitchers last week. Counsell was using Carson Kelly in the cleanup spot, but he's been declining since May and Turner hasn't given the Cubs much reason to put him back in the middle of the lineup against left-handers.
It's something to keep an eye on. Maybe the Cubs do end up deciding to give Busch more chances vs. lefties, but if they want to optimize the roster at the trade deadline and Turner does not get better in the next six weeks, then a trade to replace him could be in order.