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New York Times has baseball cover story on former NC State star and Nationals SS Trea Turner

Published

3 years ago

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If you’re an NC State football and basketball fan, but don’t really follow baseball, then you might have missed what Trea Turner is doing.

I hate to tell ya, but you’re missing out.

Turner, a former NC State superstar, is starting to come into his own and is in the conversation for being a perennial MVP candidate.

If you don’t believe us, just ask the New York Times.

The Times did a full baseball cover story on Trea Turner, with the gist of it being that while he COULD steal 75 bases (yeah, he’s that fast), he probably never will because he’s too good of a hitter.

Let’s Look at Some Facts

Trea Turner has 171 career stolen bases, despite only being in the league for 6 years. He has a season of 46 steals and another at 43. He’s successful on 83% of his attempts, which is better than the best base stealer of all-time, Ricky Henderson, who was pushing 80% of his attempts.

Turner is also a career .296 hitter and while he hasn’t hit 20 HRs yet in a single season, he has two seasons of 19. He led all shortstops in slugging percentage last year and got the 7th most votes for NL MVP.

Some of his coaches think that by accentuating his speed and focusing on stealing bases, he’d get more notoriety and would demand more money in the open market. However, Turner isn’t focused on that, in fact, that is what the entire article is about.

“I should probably back off.” said hitting coach Kevin Long “My stance on this is: I’d love to see him do it. (steal 70+ bases) for a year. But in his mind, he knows. He’s really smart and intelligent, and he knows it’s not worth it, at the end of the day, to kill his body like that.

“Because there’s nobody to replace him. Even if we lost Juan Soto, we might be able to get by. If we lost Trea Turner, we have no shot.”

Turner’s goal isn’t to set records or become the highest-paid SS in the game. His goal is to win, and for his team to win he needs to stay on the field.

Read the full article. It’s got great quotes and an inside look at Turner and his rise to MLB stardom.

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NC State Baseball

NC State Baseball Bracketology Report Heading Into Series Against Ball State

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2 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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#21 NC State is coming off of a series victory over UNC this past weekend, and a loss to #7 ECU on the road last night. Where does NC State project to land in the 2024 NCAA Tournament?

The Wolfpack have already seen the Pirates twice this season, but according to D1Baseball and Baseball America, they might not be done playing ECU. Both of them project NC State to be a #2 seed in the Greenville Regional, with D1Baseball projecting the Pirates as the #6 seed and Baseball America projecting them as the #8 seed.

NC State has plenty of baseball left to play, with series against UVA (#14), FSU (#10) and Wake Forest (#8). If the Wolfpack can handle business in 2 of those 3 series, you could make an argument for NC State hosting their own regional.

D1Baseball

Baseball America

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NC State Baseball

#21 NC State 6 #7 ECU 10: Box Score (with notes)

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2 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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#21 NC State lost to #7 ECU 6-10 on the road this evening in a midweek game. As a result, the Pirates have won both games against the Wolfpack in 2024.

When you record 10 hits and score 6 runs, you would hope that’s enough offense to win a baseball game.

Unfortunately the Wolfpack pitching staff was unable to contain the bats of the Pirates, allowing ECU to put 15 hits and 10 runs in the Box Score.

Kudos to Senior 3rd Baseman Alec Makarewicz for making a STATEment in his return to Clark-LeClair Stadium. A-Mak transferred to NC State from ECU this offseason. This evening Makarewicz was 2-4 with 1 RBI, 2 Runs, and 1 Walk.

A-Mak’s Home Run was a part of back-to-back-to-back Home Runs in the Top of the 3rd for the Wolfpack, with Sophomore Right Fielder Josh Hogue and Junior Catcher Jacob Cozart also hitting bombs.

NC State will look to flush this loss, and get ready for a 3-game series at home this weekend against Ball State.

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NC State Baseball

#21 NC State is Looking for Revenge Against #7 ECU

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3 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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Earlier this season on April 2nd, #21 NC State (22-15) lost to #7 ECU (31-8) 4-12 in Raleigh. This evening the Wolfpack will look to get revenge against the Pirates in a game in Greenville at 6pm.

Overall, NC State holds a 71-43 advantage over East Carolina in the series, which dates back to 1957.

Last year, the Wolfpack and the Pirates split their 2-game series, ironically, losing at home, and winning in Greenville.

Replicating last years results will be no small task. The Pirates are ranked 7th in the land, and boast a 3-1 record against ranked opponents this season. One of those wins was against NC State, when the Wolfpack was ranked 19th. The other two ranked wins were at UNC when they were ranked 15th.

NC State has done well against ranked opponents, going 7-4 against teams in the Top-25, and 4-2 against teams in the Top-10.

The Pirates’ pitching staff leads the AAC and is in the Top-10 nationally in ERA (3.61), WHIP (1.18), hits allowed per nine innings (6.99) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.04).

ECU’s home field advantage is a real thing, going 20-2 at home thus far this season.

Senior Carter Cunningham leads the Pirates in nearly every offensive category, batting .396 with 9 Home Runs. He’s not alone though. Five of ECU’s regular starters have batting averages over .300.

It will be a homecoming for Senior Wolfpack Third Baseman Alec Makarewicz, who transferred to NC State from ECU this offseason. A-Mak is having the best season of his career, hitting 15 Home Runs while batting .349. It would be fitting for Makarewicz to win at his old stomping grounds.

 

 

 

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NC State Baseball

NC State is Solidly Back in the Top-25 After Series Victory Over Rival UNC

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4 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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NC State’s Baseball team is solidly back in the Top-25 after winning a series over rival UNC this past weekend, winning 2 of 3 at home. Last week, the Wolfpack were ranked 22nd in the Baseball America poll, but in none of the others.

NC State will play a midweek game at East Carolina tomorrow night on the road, and the Pirates rank 7th in the D1Baseball and Coaches Poll.

Baseball America – 17th

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D1Baseball – 21st

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USA Today Coaches Poll – 23rd

Perfect Game – 25th 

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