Justin Turner missed a mere two weeks of Red Sox baseball after taking a fastball to the face in a spring training game earlier this month.
Turner, who was back in the lineup Monday when the Red Sox faced the Pittsburgh Pirates at JetBlue Park, recorded a hit in his first at-bat before later walking on five pitches. But while Turner’s outing was notable, the fact he was able to return to Boston’s lineup 14 days after the scary incident undoubtedly was the most impressive.
Turner spoke with NESN’s Tom Caron on Monday for the first time since the incident and offered his thanks after the support he received from the Red Sox and others around the league.
“So many people reaching out through text and social media and checking in on me and seeing how I was, it was just awesome,” Turner said, as seen on NESN. “And then the Red Sox, the organization and the way they handled it from the training staff, the doctors in the hospital. It was first class all the way.
“And I told Chaim, you know, kind of my first big experience with the Red Sox was off the charts,” Turner continued. “Those first impressions last a long time and it was really good.”
Turner, unsurprisingly, was excited to be back with the Red Sox and credited his fast recovery to the fact he didn’t break anything. Turner hinted at being confident he would be able to be in the lineup when the Red Sox host the Baltimore Orioles for Opening Day on March 30.
