Brice Turang Has Found His Way by Playing to His Skill Set

Brice Turang was arguably the worst offensive player in baseball as a rookie.

That’s not an exaggeration. Turang’s 60 wRC+ in 448 plate appearances last year tied with Tim Anderson for the lowest in baseball among hitters with that much playing time.

Those struggles raised concerns about his long-term viability as Milwaukee’s starting second baseman. Offseason acquisitions Oliver Dunn and Christian Arroyo appeared as candidates to usurp him at the keystone. When Sal Frelick began preparing to play infield, it seemed even more plausible that Turang’s job was in jeopardy.

A few months later, that feels like a distant memory. Turang is not only thriving but has also become a mainstay in an improved lineup. He entered Saturday hitting .312/.379/.440. His 136 wRC+ trails only William Contreras among qualified Brewers and ranks sixth among all qualified second basemen.

The turnaround has not surprised Pat Murphy, who intentionally voiced confidence in Turang during spring training and named him the starter at the keystone as other players battled for time at third base and in the outfield. Murphy predicted Turang to take a “quantum leap.”

However one wishes to characterize it, Turang is an undeniably better hitter than he was a year ago.

Turang was one of the worst fastball hitters in baseball last year. According to Statcast, he finished with a -20.7 run value against heaters. He was particularly overmatched by velocity, slugging .133 against fastballs thrown at least 95 mph.

What was once his kryptonite has become one of his greatest strengths. Turang has been an on-base machine against fastballs, hitting .366 with a .411 wOBA against them through the season's first six weeks. That includes a .423 average and .444 wOBA on pitches thrown 95 mph or above. He has slashed his whiff rate against fastballs from 20.5% to 9.1%

Making more contact has been a theme for Turang, who has become one of baseball’s best bat-to-ball savants. His strikeout rate is down to 13.6%, and his 12% whiff rate ranks in the 97th percentile of MLB hitters. He’s arrived at this point by transforming his stance, swing mechanics, and approach.

Here’s an example of a fastball away overpowering Turang in 2023.

Here’s the 2024 iteration of Turang shooting a similar pitch to the opposite field for a single.

Turang started overhauling his setup in the box after a midseason demotion to Triple-A last year, closing off his stance and replacing his leg kick with a toe tap in two-strike counts. Everything has become even more compact and quieter this year. Turang is starting with his hands closer to his body, his bat closer to his shoulder, and minimal movement in his lower body. His swing path is shorter and more direct to the ball.

Last year’s Turang was trying to do damage. This year’s version is trying to put the ball in play and reach base.

The latter exemplifies Turang's offensive skill set and approach throughout his minor-league career: getting on base and impacting the game with his speed. He is back to playing the kind of game that suits his strengths as a player, and the results have followed.

“I think of a vocalist,” Murphy said. “[They’re] capable of singing different types of music, but this one really works for the production we’re trying to put on. This kind of game for Brice works for us and, I think, for him.”

The pressure on young players to produce in the big leagues can lead them astray from what got them to that level. It happened to Turang, whose swing grew long and increasingly out of sorts as he seemingly chased more power. Instead of shooting the ball for singles and getting on base, he was striking out and hitting soft flyouts.

Murphy knew that wasn’t the real Turang. He remained confident that version would emerge with time.

“You know it’s a mental game,” he said. “And it can skew you on who a player is in their first year. You can say, ‘Wow, this guy doesn’t look right,’ you know? ‘He doesn’t do this.’ You just gotta wait until it all settles down.”

Things have started to settle down for Turang, who is no longer trying to lift the ball as he was last year. His average launch angle has decreased from 11.4 to 5.1 degrees.

Hitting the ball closer to the ground is beneficial for Turang. He is most valuable when he gets on base, and ground balls and line drives are far more likely to achieve that goal than fly balls.

Reaching base at a high clip has enabled Turang to impact games with his speed. He’s a perfect 15-for-15 on stolen base attempts, a total that ranks second in baseball.

Turang’s production and style of play earned him a promotion to the leadoff spot in the final game of the Brewers’ previous series in Kansas City. In his first three games atop the lineup, he has gone 5-for-12 with four doubles, a walk, and two steals.

“It just gives our offense another dimension,” Christian Yelich said. “You get that leadoff guy on who can run, cause problems. Even the threat of the stolen base, not actually doing it, is impactful.”

While the return to his roots is legitimate, Turang is unlikely to sustain this level of offense. His .319 xwOBA is nearly 40 points lower than his actual wOBA of .358, indicating that he’s not making the kind of contact that typically produces the outcomes he has experienced. The likelihood of periodic slumps paired with that impending regression means his numbers will start trending down sooner rather than later.

However, his elite speed and defense mean Turang merely needs to be a competent hitter to be one of the more valuable second basemen in the game. He’s definitely capable of that.

“This kid, in my opinion, is on his way to a really nice career,” Murphy said.