Based on how some players go about their daily business, you almost take them for granted.

Such is the case with Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers. He routinely gobbles up grounders as the Crew’s second baseman, and last year showed that he can be a big part of the team’s offense. Was that power surge a flash in the pan, or is there more to get out of him with the bat?

Brewers Second Basemen At A Glance

Starter: Brice Turang
Backup: David Hamilton
Depth: Luis Rengifo
Prospects: Jett Williams, Jesús Made, Cooper Pratt, Brady Ebel, Diego Frontado, Daniel Dickinson
Brewers fWAR ranking last year: 5th out of 30.
Brewers fWAR projection this year: 8th out of 30.

THE GOOD

Defense was always going to be the calling card for Turang. Even in his amateur days, he got the nod to start at shortstop over Bobby Witt Jr. with Team USA. But when Turang made his MLB debut, the Brewers had Willy Adames at shortstop, so Turang took over at second, and has proven to be an elite defender. Turang not only won the 2024 NL Gold Glove at second base, but also took home the Platinum Glove as the NL’s top overall defender.

But in 2025, the now-26-year-old became a more complete player, as his bat started to produce. After having a .239/.303/.328 slash line and a total of 13 homers in his first two big-league seasons, Turang was at .271/.339/.363 with 6 homers and 44 RBIs when the calendar flipped to August. Then, as everyone knew he could, he turned up the power in his game, doing deep 10 times in the month, including his first two-homer game and a five-game stretch in which he homered four times.

Turang finished 2025 with a slash line of .288/.359/.435, with 18 homers and 81 RBIs. There was a notable jump in his exit velocity, which went from 87 mph and the 14th percentile in MLB in 2024 to 91.1 mph and the 75th percentile in 2025.

THE BAD

Depending on which defensive metric you trust, Turang slipped from elite to either merely very good or fringe-average last season. Watching him on an everyday basis, the former feels closer to the mark. He was worse, but still solidly in the top third of defenders at the keystone.

As for things he truly needs to work on, besides leaning into a pitch now and then, Turang could stand to cut down on his strikeouts. His 2024 strikeout rate of 17% is an outlier when compared with his 2023 showing of 21% and his 2025 number of 22.8%. While 22.5% was the MLB average in 2025, putting those extra balls in play or drawing walks is something that will benefit him and the Crew offensively. Of course, if whiffing more is the price of getting to all the power we saw late last season, it’s more than worth it, so the question here is one of calibrating the approach at a very fine level.

Turang didn’t run as much in 2025 as he did in 2024, when he swiped 50 bases. That number dropped to 24, which was slightly below the 26 he stole as a rookie in 2023 in 19 fewer games. Turang’s sprint speed took a slight dip in 2025 (from 29.3 to 28.9 feet per second), but he still ranked in the 88th percentile. The real problem was that he was caught more often when he did run—eight times in 32 attempts, after going 76-for-86 in his first two years. That was caused by lousy leads and jumps, though he got better about it later in the year.

He batted throughout the order during the season, starting at the bottom but then becoming a regular leadoff hitter against right-handed starters. Surprisingly, Turang was nearly as good against left-handed pitchers (.305/.361/.391) as against right-handers (.280/.358/.454). In his first two seasons, he struggled more with lefties, but other than a lack of power, he licked that issue last year.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Turang could turn into a bigger offensive threat if he taps into that power a little more often. There is 20-homer potential, to go along with 30 (or even 40) steals. Manager Pat Murphy needs to find a way for Turang to feel free to run more than he did in 2025 and make him more dynamic. Is that batting leadoff or second? Maybe fifth? Regardless, having Turang at second base gives the Brewers one of the game’s best defenders at the position. He also has shown the ability to play shortstop, his natural position, when called upon. Hamilton can fill in nicely for Turang at second, with the potential of more offense than Andruw Monasterio could provide. The future will provide some interesting challenges for the Crew, with Williams (this year) and Made (probably next year) set for their own debuts somewhere on the infield.