Washington Nationals call Trea Turner up from Triple-A; Ryan Zimmerman on Paternity List

After the news broke yesterday, with multiple reports saying Trea Turner was in Cincinnati to take Ryan Zimmerman's spot on the roster as Zimmerman goes on the Paternity List, the Washington Nationals made it official this afternoon.

Finally! And congrats, Zimmermans.

On his updated list of the top prospects in baseball, ESPN.com's Keith Law wrote late last month that he couldn't understand what Turner was still doing in the minors.

Turner, 22, was the top position player from the Nats' organization on Law's updated rankings of the Top 25 prospects, and he was the seventh shortstop on the list.

With incumbent shortstop Danny Espinosa producing little with the bat, Law wrote, "...there's no good baseball reason for Turner to still be in Triple-A."

Suggesting that Turner is an offensive and defensive upgrade over Espinosa at short, Law wrote that it's likely to be a close race with the New York Mets in the NL East, so, "... the decision to hold Turner in Triple-A just to retain his services for 2023 looks myopic."

Turner accumulated 45 days of service time last season, so holding him down guaranteed another year of team control in the future.

In his first season in the Nationals' system last summer, Turner, who was officially acquired as part of a three-team trade with the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays in June, put up a .359/.366/.513 line in 41 PAs at Double-A Harrisburg, hitting four doubles and a triple, with four steals in four attempts.

He moved up to Triple-A Syracuse for 48 games and 205 plate appearances, over which he had a .314/.353/.431 line, seven doubles, three triples and three home runs with 14 steals in 16 attempts.

Turner played in 27 games with the Nationals, putting up a .225/.295/.325 line over 44 PAs, starting slow but catching on late as GM Mike Rizzo said last June he has at each stop.

Back with the Nats' top minor league affiliate, Turner, who will turn 23 later this month, put up a .310/.376/.472 line with 13 doubles, five triples, three home runs and 17 stolen bases in 17 attempts before he was called up to the majors this afternoon.

Where will he play while he's up? How long will he be up? Is Turner just filling a roster spot while Zimmerman's out? Is he up for good now that another year of team control in the future is guaranteed?

Turner has played 221 games at short in three minor league seasons, with 17 games overall at second, three this year.

We'll find out what the Nationals' plan is for the top infield prospect in the organization soon enough ...

The #Nats have recalled INF Trea Turner and placed 1B Ryan Zimmerman on the Paternity List.

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 3, 2016