It’s hard to argue that Dodgers utility-player-turned-everyday-third-baseman Justin Turner hasn’t been a huge part of the Dodgers success since being acquired in February of 2014. Although the extremely popular Long Beach, CA native posted a slash-line of .265/.326/.370/ for a .696 OPS during his four seasons in New York, the Mets declined to tender him a contract thus making Turner a free agent.

Somewhere along the line, Turner caught the attention of then Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, who signed Turner to a one-year minor league contract with an invitation to big league spring training camp. Not only did the redhead make the Dodgers Opening Day roster, he went on to hit .340 with an on-base percentage of .404 and seven home runs in the 109 games in which he played. So impressed were the Dodgers that they extended his contract for another year (2015), paying him $2.5 million to avoid salary arbitration – an absolute steal for the price.

Turner continued to tear it up with the Dodgers in 2015, finishing the regular season with a .294 batting average and .370 OBP. And although these numbers were down from his incredible 2014 numbers, he played in more game (126), hit 16 home runs and had 60 RBIs – second most on the team behind only Adrian Gonzalez’s 90 RBIs.

Although Turner’s batting average was down this season from last, his run production numbers went way up. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

But while Turner has filled in nicely as the Dodgers everyday third baseman since the departure of Juan Uribe and the disappointment of Alex Guerrero, he has had to deal with a nagging knee injury – two of them, in fact. But interestingly enough, it wasn’t his right knee that had caused him problems during the 2014 season, it was his left knee – which he fouled a ball off of on June 6 that has caused him lingering problems this season.

“The knee came from a foul ball off my knee earlier this year, so all the hoopla about of having knee problems for a long time… my right knee is what bothered me last year, I haven’t had a single problem with it all year this year,” explained Turner. “My left knee has never bothered me until I fouled a ball off it this year and now there’s a bone bruise. So I don’t think the history that’s being talked about with my knee is really there, other than I fouled a ball off my knee and I’m dealing with a bone bruise.”

Although Turner avoided the disabled list after fouling a ball off his left knee on June 8, it continued to bother him for the rest of the regular season. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

After four months of discomfort, and after four much-needed days off heading into tonight’s National league Division Series opener at Dodger Stadium (against the very team that declined to re-sign him in 2014), Turner insists that he is finally 100 percent healthy.

“I feel good, I feel good,” said Turner before Wednesday’s workout day. “I’ve been in the training room getting worked on and making sure everything’s right and ready to go.”

But knee injuries can be tricky and often linger for a very long time. As such, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly intentionally limited Turner’s playing time this season to three or four days on and then giving him a day off. But at this point, when Mattingly insists that he’s going to put his best players on the field every game, he simply cannot have Turner on the bench – period.

As we all know, the 2015 Dodgers are a much different team than last year’s team in nearly every category. What does Turner see as the big difference between this year’s NLDS-bound team and the one that was eliminated in four games by the St. Louis Cardinals last year?

“I think the biggest thing is the at-bats,” Turner said. “Last year I think we were one for a million in games we were trailing after the seventh inning and this year I don’t know how many times we’ve come back or at least put ourselves in a position to come back and I think that’s a direct reflection of the professional at-bats we’re getting one through nine in the line-up. No matter who we run out there we’re giving ourselves a chance.”

That chance begins tonight at 6:45 pm PT at what will undoubtedly be a completely sold-out Dodger Stadium for Game-1 of the 2015 NLDS. And with Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers and with a healthy Justin Turner at third base, how can you not love those chances.