Gionti Turner: Man of Many Faces

The Indians split their Arizona League team into two this year with the idea that the players who stayed back from 2017, those who had already proven themselves in the Dominican Summer League and the older draft picks would be on team one with the youngest players and later round draft picks taking up residence with team two. Team one was going to be the good team and anything team two did would be a bonus.

It turns out the Indians may have had a pretty incredible draft in 2018. Stocked with late round picks, the AZL Indians 2 lead all Arizona League teams in runs scored and are in position for a play-off spot, sitting behind only the AZL Indians 1 in the full season AZL Central standings. Some of this success has come from early round picks Bo Naylor (1st round) and Raynel Delgado (6th), but Billy Wilson (28th) has also been a huge performer, breaking the AZL Indians record for home runs in a season (since re-broken by Miguel Jerez on team 1). Probably the most underrated of all the AZL Indians 2 hitters, however, is the 27th pick from the 2018 draft, Gionti Turner.

Affectionately (maybe) called Bambi by his teammates, Turner is a gangly 6’2″, 178 pound 17 year old. One of two players drafted by the Indians out of Watson Chapel High School in Pine Bluff, Arkansas (Kaleb Hill, taken in the 39th round, did not sign), Turner was taken as a short stop, but has played mostly at second for the AZL Indians with some time at short and center field.

Before even looking at his on the field performance, Turner is one of the most entertaining players at the level. He has an extremely expressive face and is constantly in motion (see video of his at bat at bottom). His movements are always extreme as well. When he runs, his arms are churning at his sides and when he swings it’s 100% every time. He puts everything into every action on the field, including his often humorous slides that look like a kid jumping onto a slip-n-slide.

While this isn’t always positive (he’s committed six errors at second and three at short, mostly throwing), it’s the perfect attitude for this level. It’s easy to be a late round pick on the same team as the top international signing (George Valera) and top draft pick (Bo Naylor) and just coast. Turner hasn’t done that for a moment.

It is this intensity and the success that has come from it that has moved Turner from a part timer and bottom of the line-up hitter to a starter who often hits second or sixth in the order. Instead of the forgotten late round pick, Turner has now set him up to be one of the most anticipated players at Mahoning Valley next year.

It would have been easy to overlook Turner early in the season as he hit .208/.269/.208 over his first seven games, rarely hitting the ball out of the infield, but since then he has been an incredibly consistent hitter, reaching base with a hit in 24 of 28 games. Included in this group was a recent ten game hitting streak where he hit .357/.386/.548 and only once this year (including his rough start) has he went consecutive games without a hit.

As mentioned, Turner always swings 100% and he often swings early in the count, leading to the ability to have such extended hitting streaks. With this comes the detriment of a high strike out rate and low walk rate. So far this year, he has struck out in 19% of plate appearances while walking in just 4%. While in the past this would have been considered a major problem, Turner’s ability to reach base so often with hits (his .375 BABIP is a bit high, but not particularly when looking at his speed and batting profile) has his OBP near a respectable level. Ultimately, he’ll have to learn to be more patient once he does get deep into the count, but his early swinging tendency is a great one that should continue to be successful.

Not just a singles hitter, since July 1st he has seven doubles, two triples and a home run in 28 games for a slugging percent of .462 over that span. In addition, with his aggressive base running style, he has the ability to turn any single, one of his rare walks or the more common safe on error into a double. Turner has excellent base running form and is always looking to take the extra base. He has been caught a few times since originally stealing his first three bases successfully, but this is all part of the rookie level learning curve and I have confidence that Turner will continue to improve on the bases just like he will likely learn to start laying off those strike three pitches in the dirt.

A final quirk about Gionti’s game is the bunt. I have seen him lay down a bunt after getting down in the count 0-1 multiple times, something that puts him further in the hole, but really messes with opposing defenses. I’ve heard opposing managers complain about this from the dugout, that they don’t know how to defend him if he is going to bunt (for a hit) in situations that normally would not call for it. This ultimately has not been successful to this point, although I don’t hate the idea if he can improve his bunting ability. To this point, he has generally succeeded in fouling back a hittable pitch and putting himself into an 0-2 hole, but there is obviously an advantage there if he can make sure the bunt stays fair and on the ground.

As for his fielding, Turner has been fine when tested at second base with his only fault being possibly too aggressive. One play that sticks out in particular was on July 6th against the AZL Diamondbacks. Daritzon Feliz got down early by allowing a home run to the lead-off hitter, then allowed the next five hitters to reach as well. Jerson Ramirez replaced him, threw a wild pitch and allowed one more hit to give the DBacks six runs before an out was recorded. The next ball in play was the first legitimate chance for an out in the inning, a routine ground ball to Gionti at second.

With a runner on first, Gionti had three choices: flip to second, tag the runner or go straight to first. He chose the easiest, to tag the runner, and missed the tag. This meant he didn’t have enough time to flip to second and the throw to second only compounded the error as it went into left field. There was another error on the next play where Henderson De Oleo also attempted a throw to second and failed and ultimately, Arizona scored nine runs in the inning and 20 overall in the game.

While the Indians were never going to win that game no matter what decision Turner made, this was a case where he should have just thrown to first after missing the tag, but tried to do more because of the in game situation. Since  then, I have not noticed Turner make this mistake again over the last month and a half.

The newest aspect of Turner’s defense has been his move to center. The experiment started on August 3rd and has been limited to two games, but it has promise. The reasoning for the move likely starts with the fact that the AZL Indians 2 have two extremely talented defensive infielders in Brayan Rocchio and Raynel Delgado who have been alternating between 2B, SS and 3B with Makesiondon Kelkboom also playing all three positions and Bo Naylor spending a little time at third. With all these talented players, allowing Turner to play center is simply a good way to keep him in the daily line-up.

Secondly, there’s a chance that he will be really good at it. His best attribute at second is his first step on defense, something that should translate to the outfield, while his worst is his arm, something that shouldn’t hurt him in center. We’ve already spoken about his speed, which is very possibly the greatest on the Indians 2 and has translated well to the outfield. I have seen him play live in both of his appearances in center and, while he has only made three catches (no errors), he hasn’t been beaten on any hits due to a bad route.

I will not try to predict Turner’s future beyond that he should be promoted to Mahoning Valley next year, but one interesting comparison is with Seattle’s Dee Gordon. This is not to say he will ever be a major leaguer, let alone an All-Star, but his early numbers in the AZL are very similar to Gordon’s career MLB numbers. He’s fast (among the fastest in the league), strikes out a lot and never walks. He doesn’t hit for much power, but gets on base so much that his lack of walks and power aren’t significant. Finally, he was moved to center from second base and has quickly taken to it.

There are unquestionably things Turner needs to work on, but that is true of everyone in the Arizona League. He has raw talent and the kind of flamboyant play that makes it impossible not to root for him. The new class of Indians is firmly entrenched in the farm system and Gionti Mateo Bambi Turner should be the face of that generation.