Chicago Cubs first baseman Justin Turner posted a hilarious video of him pranking his teammates on Instagram, which was a great showcase of what he brings to the team behind the scenes.
Turner has a reputation for being a light-hearted guy in the clubhouse, helping provide a fun atmosphere for players, coaches, and the media. This is a quality that his hard to quantify from a fan perspective since we are not with the team on a regular basis, but Turner is the type of player that can gel a team together.
Turner’s value goes beyond his on-field production
162 games is a long time to be with the same group of people, let alone Spring Training, and, if you’re lucky, the postseason. An average baseball team could see each other nearly every day for the better part of eight months. It’s a grind that can get monotonous, and it can be rare to have a guy like Turner helping keep things light.
Not to mention the fact that Turner is 40 years old and has been in MLB for the last 16 years. And nine of those seasons were while Turner was playing third base for the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was part of nine postseason runs with the historic franchise. Turner is not only a friendly presence, he is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to being a Major League Baseball player.
That’s a great asset to have for everyone, but especially young players like Pete Crow-Armstrong and Matt Shaw, who are getting their feet wet when it comes to the annual 162-game season.
It’s true that Turner has been a bit of a disappointment at the plate. After posting a 117 wRC+ with Seattle and Toronto last year, Turner has just eight hits through his first 58 plate appearances in 2025. It’s hard to justify putting him in the lineup when he’s hitting like that, and the fact that he can realistically only play first base and DH.
But the Cubs are paying the veteran $6 million this year, and he’s not going anywhere. The Cubs’ offense is humming at a historic pace right now, and they are getting quality production from nearly every spot in the lineup. They can afford to have Turner sit on the bench and get sporadic starts, especially when he’s playing an invaluable leadership/fun guy role behind the scenes.