MIAMI — Sipping a Presidente and sporting Team USA shower slides, the best No. 9 hitter in baseball history wound through the bowels of loanDepot Park and considered his past 24 hours: eight runs batted in; three dingers; two wins. What more would Phillies shortstop Trea Turner have to do to convince United States manager Mark DeRosa to lift him in the batting order?
“I hope they never move me up!” Turner roared, his voice still raspy from when he lost it celebrating his grand slam a night earlier. “I’m trying to hit ninth for the rest of my life!”
It’s not the worst idea, given how he has keyed his country from that spot. After Sunday's rout of Cuba, 14–2, in a game that made it that far only because the semifinals do not feature the mercy rule, the U.S. stands one game away from repeating as World Baseball Classic champions.
