Already regarded as one of the best defenders in baseball, the 2025 regular season saw Brice Turang take a step forward with his offensive production. Will he be able to carry this new standard into the playoffs?

During the last week of the regular season, the Brewers started slotting in Turang at the three-hole in the lineup. That’s a sign of confidence in his offensive skill, essentially saying that he’s one of the keystones of this offense. It’s a well-deserved role for Turang, who went from an 88 wRC+ last year to a 124 wRC+.

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Turang’s balanced profile, offering both batting average (.288) and home runs (18) makes him one of the most valuable players in the lineup. His batted ball profile was lackluster last year, posting some of the lowest hard-hit rates in the sport. Yet in one year, he’s transformed from a 3rd percentile barrel rate and 14th percentile average exit velocity to 41st and 75th, respectively.

Turang improved in nearly all areas, but his performance against certain pitch types might be the best reason to expect success in the heightened atmosphere of the playoffs. First off, against fastballs, he improved his batting average from .307 to .349. That’s impeccable on its own, but what might be more important is how much he’s bettered his approach against breaking balls.

When facing breaking pitches, Turang hit .218 last year. For a player reliant on high contact rates, that simply wasn’t going to cut it. In turn, this year, Turang managed a much more solid .254 batting average against breaking balls. While Turang has struck out slightly more this year, the tradeoff has been more than worth it. By threatening opposing pitchers with the ability to do damage against both fastballs and breaking balls, he’s able to maximize his bat-to-ball skills.

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Turang has already showcased the ability to impress on the playoff stage. Just last season, he had a .455 batting average in the three games that Milwaukee played in the postseason. With any luck, the team will have a larger sample size to play this idea out, but it seems clear that Turang is the archetype of player that can thrive in this environment. He offers speed, contact, power—if he can impact the game in such a variety of ways, it’s no wonder he’s become a lynchpin in the top third of the order.

One of the most notable changes in Turang’s profile, aside from his increased hard contact, is the fact that he chased much less this season. Going from a 28% chase rate to 23.6% this year is a marked difference. When facing off against the best pitchers on the postseason stage, it’s hard to get away with a poor plate approach. Turang, already capable of making contact outside the zone, instead reined in his discipline to focus more on pitches he could do damage against.

It’s not just a story of one player making an improvement, but becoming central to the team’s playoff hopes. Turang led the team with 4.4 WAR this year. Would anyone have predicted that before the season? Even with his exceptional defensive achievements last year, Turang only reached 2.6 WAR.

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For Milwaukee to make a run at a championship, their second baseman will have to be a catalyst on both offense and defense. It looks like Turang is more than capable.