Brice Turang's Offensive Breakout Has Him on the Fringes of MVP Discussion

After his rookie season in 2023, the scouting report on Turang was simple: good defender, lackluster hitter. In 2024, he improved nearly every aspect of the game (even managing 50 stolen bases), but he remained a below-average hitter and an above-average defender. 

Thus far, his lack of production with the bat hasn’t been much of a problem. Even with an 86 OPS+ last year, he was still the Brewers’ second-most valuable player by rWAR (4.7), largely due to the lower offensive expectations for middle infielders. He had given fans a glimpse of a potential step forward at the plate by posting a respectable .731 OPS in the first half of last season, but regression after the All-Star break left us all wondering if it was all a dream. This year, we may finally have a definitive answer. 

With just a few weeks left in the regular season, Turang is having a career year offensively. After nearly 600 plate appearances, he’s at a 125 OPS+ and has hit more home runs this year (17) than in the past two seasons combined. This surge accelerated in August, when he slashed .343/.398/.694 over the month, and it hasn’t slowed down in September. In fact, 11 of his home runs have come in the past month; many of them have been towering shots.

His average exit velocity has increased by 4 mph since last year, and his hard-hit rate has increased by almost 20%. For the first time, his quality of contact metrics are better than average. Some are almost in the top quartile of qualified hitters.

But by far the most significant improvement has been how he has performed against fastballs. As a rookie, Turang struggled immensely against heaters, slugging just .271 against four-seamers and accumulating a run value of -15. Having issues against the most common pitch in baseball is a recipe for disaster, but he has shown clear signs of progress over the years.

Now, given what happened with his rise and fall at the plate in 2024, one might assume that this jump in hard-hit balls is just another one of the sport’s many fleeting hot streaks. However, there’s evidence to suggest that the power has always been there. Ever since he got in the league, he has had rare instances of absolutely smoking pitches when he manages to get his A-swing off. This home run against Bryce Elder had an exit velocity of 104.3 mph and traveled 417 feet.

The pop has always been in there somewhere, and he has now found a way to access it with more consistency. Whether that’s a result of additional time in the weight room, a more refined or confident approach, mechanical tweaks, a switch from 2% to whole milk, or a combination of several factors is unclear, but the results speak for themselves.

The best part is, while he’s swinging a bigger stick, his glove has still been incredibly impactful, particularly when combined with the Brewers’ infield alignment. With a more complete skillset, Turang could finish the season with more than 6.0 rWAR and even be a down-ballot MVP candidate. Unfortunately, he'll have to perform a miracle (or several) to beat out Shohei Ohtani for the actual award, but all of this progress should have the Brewers rubbing their hands in glee, especially since he’ll be under team control until at least 2030. As the best player on the best team in the league, he could certainly finish in the top five, even if that's still not how most fans think about him nationally.

To fans of the other 29 MLB teams, the success of the Brewers is a bit of a mystery. They operate in a smaller market with a meager budget and no superstars, yet they have managed to win more baseball games than any other team this year. The organization’s success has been attributed to the roster’s scrappy nature and ability for any player to step up on any given night, but there are absolutely players who have carried more than their fair share of the burden. While he isn’t known or paid like a superstar, Brice Turang is absolutely playing like one—and could be for the foreseeable future.