NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 23, 2021

Trea Turner

Truist Park

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 6 Press Conference

Q. What's the mood of the team? All of L.A. wants to know how are you guys feeling right now going into this game?

TREA TURNER: We're alive, so we're excited to play. For me I think you play hard and you keep going until somebody tells you to stop, and we got a chance to win two games here and move on, so we're excited and we're ready for tonight.

Q. Confident?

TREA TURNER: Oh, yeah, always. You got to be. If you don't think you can win, then you shouldn't be here.

Q. You know Max Scherzer better than we do. How difficult has this last week been for him? How surprised are you that he's not pitching tonight?

TREA TURNER: I don't know if I'm surprised or not surprised, but I think he's pitched through a lot of things over the last seven, eight years that I've seen, and he's not pitched through some things. So he knows when his body's available to go or not. So I think if he could he would definitely be out there.

So next man up. We lost some guys, just like everybody has, and that's why you need a deep roster, it's why you need 26, 35, 40 people to help win a championship, probably more, and hopefully today, I think Walker's pitching, I believe, and hopefully he can give us a chance to win this ball game and move on to tomorrow.

Q. How are you feeling at the plate? It looked like you were able to kind of score some balls up the other night. Do you feel yourself turning any kind of corner or anything?

TREA TURNER: Yeah, I definitely feel better. At times I feel like I've hit the ball well in the postseason in general and just haven't had too much to show for it. So when you feel like you're having some bad luck or you can't buy a hit, you try to do a little bit too much or try to make adjustments that aren't necessarily there.

But I've been in the cage a bunch just trying to be consistent, trying to feel a little bit more normal and more confident, and I feel like last game I kind of made a step in the right direction and we'll continue with that kind of thought process and take it out there tonight and see if we can have some more success.

Q. How would you describe where the team is at today, the mindset, just kind of the vibe in the clubhouse, how you guys are feeling going into tonight?

TREA TURNER: Take care of business. It's the only game on the schedule today, so we're ready to face those guys. We feel like we have a good game plan going into today, but if you don't take care of business today, then there's no tomorrow.

So we know the situation, we know we kind of dug ourselves a hole, but at the same time they played well, so it is what it is and we got to play good baseball if we want to move on and I think we're confident and ready to go.

Q. What do you recall from 2019 the way Kenley was sort of throwing that October and what you're seeing now?

TREA TURNER: Not a fun at-bat. I don't know if I faced him much in 2019, but I remember in 2016 or 2017 whenever we played them, he struck me out every time I faced him.

So never a fun at-bat and I think he's evolved from then. Now he's got that sinker and he's mixing three pitches a little bit more, which I think make it's tougher. But just the angle, how big he is, how much extension he gets, the different types of pitches he throws, I think makes it really tough, especially if you're not in his Division, you don't get to see him a bunch.

So it's a challenge and, a challenge for hitters and I'm glad he's on my team now.

Q. Is there anything that you've been able to find that's like a common thread that you guys have been able to sort of perform well even with some of the injuries, all the elimination games you guys been playing that you guys have been still been able to produce when you need?

TREA TURNER: Yea, I've talked about it since I've been here, just the amount of talent and depth that the organization has in general. I've said it before, I know we have a high payroll, but that's what you get when you pay for players. You get talent. You get a lot of depth. You get guys that should be pitching in high leverage that are towards the back end of your bullpen or you're fifth starter should be a third starter. You see a lot of that, and I think that helps with injuries. You never want to see your guys go down, especially main contributors, but when you have a deep talented roster, next guy's going to step up and probably have some success and it's not going to be easy for those guys over there to game plan against.

So we're confident for each and every one of the guys on this roster, and unfortunately we're missing some guys, but as are they, and you got to roll with it and step up and contribute.

Q. Is there value to having been there before where you've gone through a Wild Card run and in a World Series, that these guys came back from 3-1 last year, is there value to that?

TREA TURNER: Yeah, I think you always draw on past experiences and it helps you slow the game down, especially on the road, and helps you kind of, when you get punched, get back up. Like the last game, Freddie hit that homer in the first inning and it was a little tough to be down immediately in an elimination game, but we responded well, kept them there and the offense did what we're capable of. So you know it's going to happen, but you got to pick yourself up and move on and I think that experience helps.

Q. Seems like some at-bats they're shifting you with three guys on the left side, sometimes Ozzie is on the second base side, is that sort of a cat-and-mouse game and does it affect your at-bats at all?

TREA TURNER: Yeah, I mean, if they're going to give me a hit, I want to take it. It's not always that easy, obviously, but I've always prided myself on using the entire field, so if they're going to shift me, I would love to take that hit. But that doesn't mean I'm not, I won't pull the ball or I won't try to drive the ball, I'm not just going to slap it the other way, necessarily. But I think it's a cat and mouse game, you got to know kind of player you are, the situation, but I'll definitely take my hit if they give it to me.