Article: Brewer Fanatic 2023 Top 20 Prospects: #4 - Brice Turang

[Smichaelis9]

As we approach the top of the 2023 Milwaukee Brewers prospect list, we see more close-to-MLB position players. At spot #4, today's entry is infielder Brice Turang.

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While the Brewers farm system has been noted for its ability to churn out big league starters for the past half-decade, the organization's depth has transitioned more toward position players in the past two years. While their outfield depth is impressive - as we'll see near the top of the prospect rankings - infielders like Brice Turang also give Milwaukee hope that they'll be able to cover the potential loss of star shortstop Willy Adames sometime in the next 20 months.

Let's talk about Turang, Brewer Fanatic's #4 prospect as ranked by our community.

What To Like
Turang has major league bloodlines with his father; Brian spent time in MLB for two years in the 1990s and has received good grades for his makeup. Turang was once considered the likely number-one selection in his draft, but after a somewhat disappointing senior season of high school and travel ball, he fell to the Brewers at 21. One thing nobody will have to worry about with Turang will be his defense. He’s a very good defensive shortstop who has shown an ability to move around to second and third, as well as some center field. His instincts, glovework, and arm strength allowed him to play each of them seamlessly. A plus defender at shortstop specifically gives Turang a lot of value. As a baserunner, he was successful on 34 of 36 stolen base attempts in 2023 and showed an impressive ability to pick up on pitcher timing to get great jumps. Combining those baserunning instincts with his above-average speed should make him a threat on the bases at the major league level. Offensively, Turang has shown a very good feel for the strike zone, rarely expanding outside of it, which makes him an on-base threat even if he isn’t driving the ball. He has decent bat-to-ball skills to go along with that feel for the zone, giving him an average to slightly above-average hit tool overall. Turang doesn’t need to be a world-beater offensively to have a lot of value, but being better than league average would raise that value rather significantly.

What to Work On
The main reason Turang being a patient hitter is so important is because his offensive game does leave a bit to be desired at times, especially in the extra base hit department. Since being drafted, Turang has adjusted his stance at the plate. His front foot is now slightly more open than when he was drafted, sinking a bit further into the back leg. This was done with power output on the mind, as it keeps him from closing himself off with his front foot. With that adjustment, he began to tap into his in-game power more this past season, especially in the second half. Through June of last season, Turang had 308 plate appearances with only 13 extra-base hits, three of which were home runs. He had a .348 SLG at that point. From July through the end of the season, he had 295 plate appearances. In that span, he hit ten home runs and had 26 extra-base hits, which amounted to a .484 SLG. That type of output over the course of a full season would be above average at the major league level. Proving that the second half of the season is more indicative of his future offensive output than the first was would go a long way toward making Turang a very productive MLB bat.

What’s Next
Turang has a chance to be a long-time regular in MLB. Some improvements at the plate would go a long way toward making that reality. He had an up-and-down 2022 season, and some off-season additions may have lessened the chances of Turang making the Opening Day roster. As long as he remains healthy, though, we will see him in Milwaukee sometime this season.

What do you think, Brewer Fanatics? What will we see from Turang in 2023, and who do you think slots into the #3 top prospect slot? Leave a comment and let us know!

Previous Installments
Brewers Top 16-20 Prospects
Brewers Top 11-15 Prospects
Brewers Top 6-10 Prospects
Brewers #5 Prospect: Jeferson Quero
Brewers #4 Prospect: Brice Turang

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[Austin Tatious]

Good article.  I keep banging the drum that Turang has been undervalued and under appreciated by Brewer fanatics.  He’s an excellent athlete and his stats don’t tell the story.  He’s always been challenged and is physically maturing.  I think he ends up a good starter when you take into account his defense, speed, and hit tool.  He’s like the opposite of Arcia where his stats were misleading the other way.  

[Fear The Chorizo]

Article needs a quick revision in paragraph 1, as I think Turang is ranked #4, correct?

People are quick to forget that Turang was the top positional prospect in his age group for multiple years prior to his senior year in high school and considered a potential top overall selection in the 2018 draft prior to summer of 2017.  He slipped a bit due mainly to concerns about his slight frame/build leading up to the 2018 draft, which IMO was a gift to the Brewers being able to pick him at #21 overall that draft.  He's going to have a long MLB career, and I'm looking forward to him getting to Milwaukee soon!

[Brock Beauchamp]

31 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

Article needs a quick revision in paragraph 1, as I think Turang is ranked #4, correct?

Thank you! I posted all of these back-to-back and that was lost in the shuffle of posting several pieces at once.

[Playing Catch]

Good defense, good wheels, lefty stick, ostensibly strong "makeup". He'll play for a long time in MLB. I just don't see him ever being league average. *ducks*

[sveumrules]

2 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

Good defense, good wheels, lefty stick, ostensibly strong "makeup". He'll play for a long time in MLB. I just don't see him ever being league average. *ducks*

ZiPS has him at 132 G | 579 PA | 82 wRC+ | +1.6 BSR | +9.2 DEF shaking out to 1.9 WAR, which is more or less “average” production.

I’d probably take the under on the G/PA this year but the rest seems pretty reasonable.

Get that wRC+ up into the nineties, or beat the BSR/DEF by a half dozen runs or so, and you’re probably up around 2.5 WAR. Do them both and Brice could post a sneaky 3.0 WAR.

I wouldn’t bet on it in his rookie season, but that is essentially the path to getting there.

[brewerralph]

20 hours ago, Austin Tatious said:

Good article.  I keep banging the drum that Turang has been undervalued and under appreciated by Brewer fanatics.  He’s an excellent athlete and his stats don’t tell the story.  He’s always been challenged and is physically maturing.  I think he ends up a good starter when you take into account his defense, speed, and hit tool.  He’s like the opposite of Arcia where his stats were misleading the other way.  

Great article. As much as I like Willy I hope Turang can play short stop for years to come.