Article: Brewers Spring Training Battles: Abraham Toro vs. Brice Turang

[clancyphile]

The Brewers will be seeing several battles over the course of Spring Training. One will see Abraham Toro and Brice Turang face off for what could be a lot of playing time.

Image courtesy of © Roy Dabner / For the Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via Imagn Content Services, LLC

These two players do not quite match up head-to-head, and it is even an open question as to what roster spot and playing time they are battling over.

Could it be the starting second base position? A spot on the bench? Some sort of hybrid? Much of that is up in the air. Let’s look over the two players and how they compare to one another.

Abraham Toro
The Brewers acquired Toro and designated hitter Jesse Winker in the trade, sending Kolton Wong and $1.25 million to Seattle. Toro has been up and down from the minor leagues since 2019. He is a versatile switch-hitter, having seen time at second base, third base, right field, first base, and designated hitter.

The 26-year-old Toro came up with the Astros, then was dealt to Seattle in 2021 in a deal that netted the Astros two relievers, one of whom notched 14 saves with Houston in 2022.

His MLB stats show some decent power (26 homers and 30 doubles in 824 at-bats), but his career batting average is around the Bob Uecker line, he doesn’t exactly draw a lot of walks, and his BABIP is only .224. The only good news: Toro only struck out 161 times – a little less than 20%. Perhaps American Family Field will be more friendly than Minute Maid Park, and T-Mobile Park have been, but that is a lot to count on.

Brice Turang
Turang is a natural shortstop who looked to be a replacement for the traded Kolton Wong until the Brewers signed Brian Anderson, thrusting him into the mix at third base. Turang was the Brewers’ first-round pick in 2018 and has displayed speed, OBP skills, some occasional power, and slick defense.

Even before the acquisition of Willy Adames in 2021, Turang spent time at second base, third base, and center field at various points in his professional career. At 22, Turang more than doubled his 2021 home run total and had a career-high in doubles. At worst, Turang looks to be a left-handed Orlando Arcia with better OBP skills and speed.

The biggest question is whether Turang develops more – and he has a lot of time to do so. With the current presence of Adames, the question is whether to have Turang start at second base in Milwaukee, play full-time in Nashville, or serve as a utility player in 2023.

Overview
This is a battle that, in one sense, seems easy. Turang is the future of Milwaukee, and the Brewers have many options in the infield. Luis Urias is a viable starter at second or third. Brian Anderson has handled third base for the Marlins for a while. Mike Brosseau did pretty well in 2022 for the Crew, spending time at third. Keston Hiura saw time at second base. Owen Miller has also seen a lot of time.

The fact is, Turang and Toro could both end up in Nashville, albeit for different reasons; in many scenarios, that would be good news for the Crew in 2023. The Brewers may want to buy an extra year of control before free agency and avoid super-two status in the case of Turang, while Toro could easily find himself bypassed by other options who outperformed him.

If both Turang and Toro make the Opening Day roster, then the Brewers had a lot of injuries and slumps, or both players will have broken out big time in the small sample of spring training.

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[wiguy94]

I don't think either of these two will be on the opening day roster. 

[Brewcrew82]

The fact that these two guys will likely open in AAA is a testament to the depth that Arnold and co. have built this winter. You figure between them, the rookie OFs, and now Voit and Naquin, someone is bound to step up and insert themselves into an everyday role.

[Lathund]

Brewers might want to keep Turang down a couple weeks for the extra year of control, but I would expect the plan is for him to spend most (or even all) of the season in the majors, starting at 2B most days. I think it's the best roster fit; it provides a natural backup to Adames when needed. The fact that he can play CF is another plus too, especially if they end up with only Yelich, Taylor, Mitchell (And the mostly DHing Winker) as pure outfielders. But more than that though, I just think that the changes this year makes them value elite up the middle defense even more, and the changes to pickoffs and the bases should potentially suit a speedster like Turang on offense as well. Really, I just think that Turang is almost a lock to be a decent MLB player straight away. Probably never, or at least years away from it, an all-star, but he's exactly the kind of guy who the Cardinals seem to find every year or two, who just slots in as an average to above average MLB starter almost from day 1 without having been super hyped. 

As for what the roster looks like, I think the wild card that needs settling first is Hiura. He has no options, so I guess they have to really like what they see in ST for him to make the roster. But let's assume he does, then I expect the IF to have Tellez, Turang, Adames and Urias as the "starters". Hiura as a somewhat weird fit with his reverse splits. Anderson is a given, likely playing every day against LHP (As an indirect platoon with Turang/Mitchell and sometimes directly with Tellez) and getting starts at all the corner spots inbetween. And then that only leaves one spot, which I think goes to Brosseau as the most accomplished hitter at the MLB level compared to Miller or Toro. Since Hiura didn't really serve a necessary positional purpose on the roster, if he doesn't make the team then just about anyone could take that spot. Could well be Toro, but it could also give room for Frelick or even Voit. 

[monty57]

I think that a lot depends on how Anderson performs. My guess (barring injuries) is that Anderson will start at 3B, with Urias moving to 2B. Turang will likely start in AAA.

If Anderson falters, Turang will only be in AAA long enough to save service time. If Anderson plays like he did early in his career, then there will be no rush to bring Turang up. He's the natural replacement for Adames when he is likely traded next offseason, so saving Turang's service time for when he's our starting SS will benefit the team long-term.

Toro was a nice pickup, as he can play all over the field, and he still has enough "prospect luster" left that maybe, just maybe he could break out. However, he's far enough along that you don't mind burning through his service time as a bench player. If he gets hot, he could earn himself some additional playing time, but as I started this post, if Anderson falters it will likely be Turang who takes over as an everyday player.

But, the spring will be interesting, as several different scenarios could play out. Anderson could be used more than expected as a corner OF, opening more time at 3B. Hiura is an enigma, as they didn't play him last year when he was seemingly the best option vs RHP, so why did they sign him to a seven-figure salary? Post-surgery, can Winker play better defense, freeing up the DH spot more often than we expect? Will they hold onto Brosseau as a "lefty killer," taking up one of the spots Toro/Turang are fighting for?

All-in-all, it' good to have depth, and it's good to have players with positional flexibility. It opens up a lot of options.

[Austin Tatious]

The backup infield and bullpen will be fascinating to see how they work out.  Both look pretty jumbled.  Also, some IFers can go out and play OF which adds flexibility.  

With a 26 man roster and 13 pitcher limit, that leaves you five backup/DH position players, and Caratini will be one of them.  So that leaves you four.  Winker absorbs one.  If you assume Taylor, Mitchell and Yelich in the OF, then Naquin could be another.   If you assume an IF of Anderson, Adames, Urias, and Tellez, you’re looking at two backup IF with lots of candidates.  I don’t know how to handicap it without getting spring training results.  Who are the last two?  Is Hiura still going to be here? Miller is versatile and a pro.  Brosseau is good against lefties.  Toro is maybe still developing.   Will Turang be given a chance?  Voit doesn’t bring flexibility but could be a hedge for Winker or Tellez injuries, or a possible Hiura trade.  Right now, without any trades, I might guess Hiura and Miller for those spots but anything is possible.  The other possibility is Naquin doesn’t make it and they rely on Anderson’s ability to play RF and Hiura LF.   Then you keep a Toro or Brosseau.  

[monty57]

20 minutes ago, Austin Tatious said:

 The other possibility is Naquin doesn’t make it and they rely on Anderson’s ability to play RF and Hiura LF.   Then you keep a Toro or Brosseau.  

I think this is a good possibility. In addition to Anderson acting as a backup OF, if Winker's surgery worked, he could be a better defender than he's shown the past couple seasons so he could see more time on the field than we're all thinking. Then you're looking at whether it makes more sense to keep someone like Toro or Brosseau over someone like Naquin, and even whether we keep someone like Hiura who could DH while Winker is in the OF. Yelich, Mitchell, Winker in the OF with Hiura at DH would be a nice "vs RHP" mix.

There really are a lot of directions the team could go, and I think they'll lean towards keeping the prospects (other than Mitchell) down for a while for service time/Super 2 reasons.