The Boston Red Sox are in a brutal slump right now, winning just three of their last seven games. A big reason for that is their offense, which isn't swinging it well by any means. Justin Turner, one of their most consistent hitters, is one who is immensely struggling but that's due to a brutal heel injury he's dealing with.

In fact, Turner should technically be going on the IL to let it heal. But, with the timetable around 4-6 weeks, he doesn't have that luxury. Instead, the veteran plans to play through the pain.

Via Alex Speier of The Boston Globe:

It’s an interesting one,” he said. “It’s a bone bruise. There’s no real remedy for a bone bruise. You ask a medical person, they’ll tell you 4-6 weeks avoiding impact. Obviously, I don’t have that luxury. So, trying to calm it down and get it as under control as I can and then try to go again and not piss it off. You don’t really have a lot of options.”

Turner suffered the injury on July 31st and ultimately sat out the next three games. However, since returning, he's just 2 for 10 at the dish. Turner is clearly dealing with pain and as he explained, other areas of your body take a beating because you're compromising for another issue:

“When you have something going on, subconsciously, you guard that thing, and in doing that you put other areas at risk,” Justin Turner said. “I had a little bit of that going on. It wasn’t so much just the heel yesterday and today. There was some other [stuff] that was flaring up because of it.

“I’m trying to just be smart. I don’t know what the answer is at this point in the season. The right thing to do versus what you have to do are two different things. You just have to duct tape it and put some WD-40 on it, go out there, and try to help us win games.”

Turner is batting .284 with 17 home runs and 71 RBI in 2023. The Red Sox meanwhile are hitting .223 across their last seven outings.