"We got Trea Turner straightened, Bryce Harper was a sh*thead" - Former teammate recounts mentoring Phillies superstars during their Nationals days

Trea Turner and Bryce Harper bring a combination of talent and experience to the Phillies lineup that makes them the envy of other clubs. However, as one former teammate recently revealed, the tandem was not always so established.

On The Phillies Show, former MLB outfielder Jason Werth discussed his career. At one point, Werth described Harper and Turner during their early days, when they all played on Washington. When asked if he keeps tabs on Turner and Harper, Werth claimed:

"Yeah, I keep track of them a little bit, I feel like I raised those kids. I got Bryce when he was 19. We got Trea when he was coming over."

Jason Werth spent seven of his 15 MLB seasons playing for the Washington Nationals. Having joined the club in 2011, Werth was on the roster to welcome both Bryce Harper and Trea Turner to the big leagues.

First, Werth discussed bringing Trea Turner on board. After being drafted by the San Diego Padres in the first round, Turner failed to crack their roster, finally making his MLB debut for Washington in 2015.

"He got a really weird deal, we got him at a weird time," Werth said. "He had spent some time with the Padres in big league camp as a Washington National. So I can't imagine what it was like as a National in the big league camp, as a kid for the Padres. When we got him, he didn't know how to be in a big league clubhouse. So we had a little work to do with Trea, we got him straightened out.

Werth touched on how despite being traded in late 2014, Turner did not actually come to the Nationals until the following June, meaning that he attended Padres training camp as a member of the Nats.

Three-time MVP Bryce Harper was not immune from Werth's words. Werth described meeting Harper, now the face of the Philadelphia Phillies, when the 19-year-old made his MLB debut in 2012:

"Bryce has become an unbelievable human being, so proud of Bryce. We got him when he was 19, he was such a sh*thead. Running face-first into walls in LA, getting kicked out of games all the time."

Jason Werth has long been one of Bryce Harper's biggest fans

Ahead of his 2019 deal with the Philadelphia Phillies, Harper sought advice from Jason Werth, who told him:

“I don’t think any city wins better. They win the best and lose the worst. It’s an awesome place to play. It’s a great city. There is no place better to win. There is a lot of opportunity for him. Thirteen years is obviously a long time. They expect you to win in that city.”

Having achieved everything but a World Series in Philadelphia, the city has certainly fallen in love with Bryce Harper. However, those expectations have not gone anywhere.