Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Brice Turang grew up swinging a bat, and the fruits of those labors are coming to fruition in his second MLB season. Following an abysmal .585 OPS rookie campaign, the 24-year-old Milwaukee Brewers second baseman is thriving with a .301/.366/.428 slash line and a 128 wRC+ over 188 plate appearances. Turang has shown versatility beyond the bases, with 15 extra-base hits this season, matching his total from all of 2023. The son of former big league outfielder Brian Turang, Brice was drafted 21st overall by the Brewers in 2018 out of Santiago High School in Corona, California.
He was ranked no. 65 on the Top 100 Prospects list entering last year. At the time, Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin wrote that Turang was “almost certain to have a significant and lengthy big league career,” despite doubts about his offensive impact. Two months into his sophomore season, Turang is proving those doubts wrong, contributing to the Brewers’ current position atop the NL Central standings.
In his “Talks Hitting” interview, Turang discusses his approach to hitting, focusing on competing rather than data:
David Laurila: How have you developed as a hitter over the years?
Brice Turang: “A lot of it is that I hit basically every day. My dad owned a facility and I would go with him from three o’clock to nine o’clock every night. I loved it. I loved going to work with him. I’d be in the cage all the time, hitting, [developing] hand-eye coordination. Then, as you get into pro ball, the work you do is more of a quality-over-quantity type of thing.”
… Additional interview questions and responses follow …
Brice Turang: “You’ve got to see the ball. If you can’t see the ball, you ain’t gonna hit it.”
… More insights and perspectives on hitting from Turang in the full interview …