Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner won the National League batting title with a .304 batting average on the year. It's one of the lowest averages to win the batting title ever, and he's also the only qualified hitter in the NL to have an average above .300.
Returning to the Phillies lineup, and even though he didn't get a hit in his at-bats back from a hamstring injury, Turner still wound up with the batting title.
After the game, Turner was asked why it's so difficult for hitters in today's game. Matt Gelb of The Athletic shared Turner's response, which highlights how difficult being a hitter is in the modern era of Major League Baseball.
Trea Turner answers why hitters struggle so much in today's game
"Yep. Everyone throws a 100." Turner said. "Everyone has six pitches. Nobody knows where the ball's going. There are a lot of reasons. Defenses are way better than they've ever been. If you're a defender now and you don't make plays, you get exposed. So to me, it makes a lot of sense. You could have an average pitcher throwing 95 and have six pitches. And you've got to go up there and be ready for all of them. So ... I know why. But I don't know why nobody else does."
Being a hitter in the modern era of baseball is incredibly challenging. Even looking at the surface level, so many pitchers can throw 100 mph. Catching up to such speed isn't easy, and when those pitchers tend to be more wild, it's even more difficult to hit such speed.
Trea Turner was the only qualified hitter in the National League to bat .300 in 2025. Enjoyed his response when asked if he could explain why it’s so hard: pic.twitter.com/LJrJDmcnwl
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) September 28, 2025
Not to mention that if such a flame-thrower has any off-speed stuff, he'll be exponentially harder to hit. And it doesn't even have to be a hard-throwing pitcher to be tricky to hit.
Ranger Suarez of the Phillies doesn't throw hard, but is still a very challenging pitcher to face. Speed is one thing, but pitchers with a lot in their arsenal are just as challenging to hit.
That's just scratching the surface as well. Defenses are better than ever, and the new shift rules haven't been enough to help hitters either.
Players have been coached to sacrifice contact for power, with a shift in ideology in a lot of coaching circles, aiming for more power as opposed to consistent contact.
Strikeouts are a more acceptable part of the modern era of baseball, as teams are willing to sacrifice more strikeouts to have a slugger knock more home runs over the fence instead.
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Between the shift in offensive ideology, improved defense, and incredibly challenging pitching, it's no surprise that batting averages are down across baseball. Hitting is harder than ever, and even when players do make contact, a lot are trying to hit the ball over the fence, not just get on base.
Turner's answer reveals why hitters aren't hitting above .300 much anymore. Only the best hitters can reach that mark, as opposed to years prior, when multiple solid hitters could hit that benchmark, even if they weren't the best hitter that season.
Heading into the future of baseball, it's going to be an interesting dynamic at play to see who hits above .300 on the year, and whether we'll get to the point where there aren't any qualified .300 hitters in a season.
With the current trends that Turner outlined, the baseball world might not be far off from such a season. But for now, Turner is the lone .300 hitter in the National League this season, as his explanation for why hitters have struggled lately is great insight into what is causing hitters to struggle so much at the plate in recent years.
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