Brice Turang

[wildcat2237]

Brice Turang is on fire to start his professional career. This is a very positive sign.

 

Hit .319 with a .421 OBP in 47 AB's in the Arizona Rookie League.

 

Hitting .500 with a .600 OBP in 12 AB's at Helena.

 

http://www.milb.com/player/index.jsp?sid=milb&player_id=668930#/career/R/hitting/2018/ALL

 

I spoke with a Mariners scout who saw him in Phoenix. Compared him to Stephen Drew.

[reillymcshane]

While the sample size is very small (59 ABs), I'm really happy to see the kid's got a good eye at the plate. 12 walks vs 7 strikeouts thus far. That's pretty impressive. 9 out of 10 in SBs as well.

 

I'll be excited to get him for a full year in 2019. If he does well at Helena, I could see him starting in Appleton.

[SRB]

15.8 BB% and 20.0 BB% so far

 

The Turangutan!

[molitor fan]

Stephen Drew? of the 41 career stolen bases? That scout may want to search for his reference points on something other than physical resemblance....

[Eye Black]

I spoke with a Mariners scout who saw him in Phoenix. Compared him to Stephen Drew.

This made me realize I apparently missed the memo that Stephen Drew retired before the season this year.

[DHonks]

Stephen Drew was an outstanding person, had good range, high baseball IQ, power, walks/OBP, etc. I think that's a good comp for anyone to have. Plus, comps in rookie ball mean nothing

[SRB]

Stephen Drew? of the 41 career stolen bases? That scout may want to search for his reference points on something other than physical resemblance....

 

I feel like when scouts throw out comps they are usually thinking of "Stephen Drew the prospect"

 

Drew was a top-5 prospect in all of baseball and was considered a five-tool player, although I do see that he stole very few bases in the minors for whatever reason

[Eye Black]

All comps are probably silly, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy them. The tough thing is that so many different factors go into a player’s success or failure that even individuals with perfectly similar tools and physical comparisons could pan out very differently.

 

Regarding Turang the MLB player that he reminds me of somewhat (albeit hitting from the opposite side) is Trea Turner. That is obviously a lofty comparison, and I haven’t watched enough of either one of them to know how accurate or inaccurate it may be.

[wildcat2237]

Thanks for the replies, folks.

 

Comparison aside, the reason I shared this news is because many high school players struggle a bit when they move to professional ball. Heck, even some 4-year college guys struggle out of the gate.

 

It is in my opinion beyond excellent news that not only is Turang not struggling but he is thus far destroying professional pitching. If he keeps this up I imagine he will be a Top 100 prospect this winter. I'm looking forward to see that he does at low-A next year. if he continues this, I imagine he is a top 50 guy.

[justwinbaby]

I’m gonna comp him to a guy I seen play with the brewers years ago, Robin Yount. I can hope and pray can’t I.

[And That]

Just to rain on the parade a little, I’m a bit hesitant to say that he’s destroying professional pitching when he has a .051 ISO and is hitting ground balls at a 56% clip. Strength was one of the scouting tweaks on him given his relatively slight frame, and neither of those stats is disproving that.

[wildcat2237]

Just to rain on the parade a little, I’m a bit hesitant to say that he’s destroying professional pitching when he has a .051 ISO and is hitting ground balls at a 56% clip. Strength was one of the scouting tweaks on him given his relatively slight frame, and neither of those stats is disproving that.

 

I doubt Turang is ever a big power guy (which is my issue withe the Drew comparison).

 

However, a slick fielding SS with a high OBP is fine with me. The guy walks and puts the ball in play. If we had taken him at #2 overall I would be upset. However, I'll take a high OBP SS late in the first round.

[SRB]

He's only 18. Who knows how much power he's going to have. OBP skills is something you don't grow into.

[wildcat2237]

OBP skills is something you don't grow into.

 

Amen. This is why I liked the Turang pick. I am beyond happy that he has started his pro career with a high OBP.

 

Let's hope he can keep it up despite a lack of power...

[splitterpfj]

Corey Ray is going to have a career in the big leagues, and if he improves his hit tool, he'll be a star - the same is true for Turang, and hitting for power.

[And That]

The plate discipline skills are great, no doubt. Here's what concerns me about the power projections, however: Tony Gwynn, Jr.

 

TGJ and Turang have somewhat similar left-handed builds and at their entry point into pro ball, both needed to simply get stronger. There's a difference obviously in that Gwynn was 21 when he was drafted, but the point is that Gwynn never really got stronger - the slight frame stuck with him. Gwynn had great "OBP skills" straight off in the minors but at some point, pitchers realized they didn't have to throw him balls. They could knock the bat out of his hands in the strike zone. I recall noting this on multiple occasions back in the day, and was met with some resistance. Gwynn got 1600 ABs in the bigs, so that's good, but he didn't get the results I think many were hoping for. Most of his big league contributions were made on defense. Pitchers did not have to be careful with him. The same thing worries me with Turang.

 

Though again, like I said, Turang is 3 years younger than TGJ was when he was drafted, and has that time to work on getting stronger. And don't get me wrong, I am much, much more bullish on Turang than I was on Gwynn. It's just that drawing walks isn't a huge deal now if pitchers are just going to pound the strike zone on him further up the chain.

[Jenkins5]

I still see a lot of Trae Turner in him. Trae Turner coming out of high school was same size with ton of speed & not much power.... Turner was also far less heralded then. Turner is far from a power bat still but filled out body more & sits in the 10-15 range. Shows signs of being able to hit for average & walk with effective ability to steal bases.

 

One thing people may be overlooking is he could be reverting back to a more level swing that made him such a high level prospect. It was said this season he changed and added more loft to add power & hit tool dropped because of it. I haven’t seen him play yet & am a scout but I do wonder if that is playing a role at all. I’m not concerned at all either way about a skinny 18 year old who hasn’t flashed power. Give him time with pro trainers to build strength & fill out frame.

 

If we get a version of Trae Turner who I’m a fan of, I’d be very happy. I don’t need 20 hrs out of him. 10-15 with some double gap power... mixed with good average & obp... I’m happy

[SRB]

The plate discipline skills are great, no doubt. Here's what concerns me about the power projections, however: Tony Gwynn, Jr.

 

TGJ and Turang have somewhat similar left-handed builds and at their entry point into pro ball, both needed to simply get stronger. There's a difference obviously in that Gwynn was 21 when he was drafted, but the point is that Gwynn never really got stronger - the slight frame stuck with him. Gwynn had great "OBP skills" straight off in the minors but at some point, pitchers realized they didn't have to throw him balls. They could knock the bat out of his hands in the strike zone. I recall noting this on multiple occasions back in the day, and was met with some resistance. Gwynn got 1600 ABs in the bigs, so that's good, but he didn't get the results I think many were hoping for. Most of his big league contributions were made on defense. Pitchers did not have to be careful with him. The same thing worries me with Turang.

 

Though again, like I said, Turang is 3 years younger than TGJ was when he was drafted, and has that time to work on getting stronger. And don't get me wrong, I am much, much more bullish on Turang than I was on Gwynn. It's just that drawing walks isn't a huge deal now if pitchers are just going to pound the strike zone on him further up the chain.

 

The problem with Gwynn Jr., at least when he got to the majors, was that he had no power or hit tool. He was good at drawing walks and that was it.

 

Even if Turang never develops any power, he could still be a very good player as a plus defender with decent OBP skills like early-career Elvis Andrus.

[JohnBriggs12]

Chase Utley had 2 HR in his first pro season in 175 PA as a 21 year old. Odds are that by the time Turang is 22, he'll have added 20 pounds to his frame and be able to drive the ball. Maybe not to the level that Utley did, but he doesn't have to.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Hitting for power had nothing to do with why Turang was among the players considered to be a potential 1st overall pick in this year's draft following the 2017 Draft - and ironically his change in approach to try and hit for more power before he developed the physical ability for that to come naturally is probably what caused him to drop into the Brewers' lap. Turang will develop plenty of pop - he doesn't have to turn into early career Tulowitzki to be a quality MLB SS a handful of years from now.

 

I think today's game of extreme shifting and emphasis on trying to get everyone to adjust launch angles and strive for HR/slugging has created a market inefficiency for hitters that get on base a ton, don't strike out much, and can put the ball solidly in play by spraying to all fields - exactly the type of player Turang projects to be.

[brewcrewdue80]

Just to rain on the parade a little, I’m a bit hesitant to say that he’s destroying professional pitching when he has a .051 ISO and is hitting ground balls at a 56% clip. Strength was one of the scouting tweaks on him given his relatively slight frame, and neither of those stats is disproving that.

 

Trent Grisham? If you can take a walk great. Maintain a higher BA great. 56% ground ball rate and .051 ISO is going to result in BABIP highs and lows.

 

Now he has lesser of a K rate than Grisham, but if he's going to lack this power, .240 average seasons and .310 avg seasons are likely to occur. On the positive he's at SS which if his defense is above average will be valuable. If he doesn't stick there, he'll be one of those -1WAR/4WAR/0WAR/0WAR/4WAR kind of pattern when the BABIP is in his favor or not. You're not far off from a Luis Sardinas at the Rookie level.

[Hammer]

This thread has some good stuff in it! Is there a website that breaks down draft class by team and by year to see all of the stats in a fairly easy to read/find format?

[3and2Fastball]

It is really awesome to see the start that Turang has had... .343 BA, .444 OBP, 9 SB's in 18 games... I like it a lot! I guess I didn't realize Turang was as fast as he is....went and looked it up and saw he ran 6.5 60's at Showcases. That is blazing fast!

 

It is of course just a small sample size but he's off to a better start than many of the position players taken ahead of him....

[MadScientist]

It is really awesome to see the start that Turang has had... .343 BA, .444 OBP, 9 SB's in 18 games... I like it a lot! I guess I didn't realize Turang was as fast as he is....went and looked it up and saw he ran 6.5 60's at Showcases. That is blazing fast!

 

It is of course just a small sample size but he's off to a better start than many of the position players taken ahead of him....

Maybe he has the Aaron Rodgers like chip on his shoulder about being passed over in the draft.

[TooLiveBrew]

This thread has some good stuff in it! Is there a website that breaks down draft class by team and by year to see all of the stats in a fairly easy to read/find format?

Baseball Reference is the best I know of

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/?query_type=year_round&year_ID=2018&draft_round=1&draft_type=junreg& -- the third option there is to sort by franchise & year