Welcome back, friends, to another week of Up-and-Coming Dynasty Players. Last week I talked about Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio. I’m liking Milwaukee so much that I have decided to stick with the Brewers and talk about second baseman Brice Turang.
Selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2018 draft out of high school, Turang was playing in Triple-A by 2021 at the age of 21 as the club aggressively pushed him through the system. A left-handed hitter, Turang spent all of the 2022 season at Triple-A Nashville, slashing .286/.360/.412 with 13 homers, 78 RBI and 34 steals while only being caught stealing twice. The homers and RBI were career highs.
Turang started the 2023 season back at Nashville but was there for only 15 games before the Brewers recalled him. He spent the rest of the season with Milwaukee, appearing in 137 games and slashing a not-so-thrilling .218/.285/.300. Those are not the numbers of a player who is an up-and-coming dynasty player.
But I think he is a player to target. Let’s examine why.
Career Statistics
| Year | G | HR | RBI | SB | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minors | 434 | 26 | 201 | 100 | 245 | 346 | .270 | .363 | .740 |
| 2023 | 137 | 6 | 34 | 26 | 38 | 94 | .218 | .285 | .300 |
| 2024 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 12 | .321 | .379 | .462 |
| MLB CAREER | 8 | 43 | 38 | 46 | 106 | .234 | .301 | .326 | |
Before we get into Brice Turang, here are a few fun facts: his father, Brian, appeared in 78 games over the 1993 and 1994 seasons for the Seattle Mariners while his mother appeared in the Women’s College World Series for Long Beach State twice. Additionally, his sister Brianna appeared in the WCWS three times with Oklahoma. Three other sisters all played various sports in college as well.
OK, now that we got the Fun Fact portion out of the way, let’s get back to Turang.
The Tools
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Hit
Turang has always had a good approach at the plate. His career walk rate in the minors was 12.8% and his strikeout rate was 18%. That did not immediately carry over with the Brewers last season. But as you can see from above, Turang has made a nice adjustment after a tough rookie season. His numbers have improved across the board except for his Sweet-Spot%.
After struggling with high fastballs last season, Turang made some adjustments by lowering his hand positioning and leveling his swing path, and obviously those adjustments have paid off through the first month of the season. His Avg. EV, Barrel % and Hard-Hit % while his Chase %, Whiff % and K % are vastly improved.
Thanks to his adjustments, he entered Friday hitting .321 with a very solid .379 OBP and .462 SLG.
During his final full season in the minors, he did start to hit for power more, trading an increase in strikeouts for the extra pop. But the power increase also can be attributed to a natural gain in strength and from better training. His current strikeout rate is a nice 13.8%, way below the MLB average of 22.7%. And his walk rate of 9.2% is above the 8.6% MLB average.
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Power
If you are going after Brice Turang or already have him on your team, it is not because of his power. As I mentioned earlier, he did increase his home run production in 2022 at Nashville. But hitting homers is not why Turang is in the majors. His current home rate is only 2.3%, below the MLB average of 3.1%. And outside of that 2022 season, hitting homers has never been his forte.
As Turang ages and gains more strength and knowledge at the plate, his home run production may go up. But I wouldn’t count on him being a 20-homer player. I would be happy if he hits 15 homers and sticks to hitting .300 because when on base, that is when Turang is at his best.
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The Speed
Speed is Turang’s best fantasy tool. When he gets on base, he is a threat to steal at any time. Last season he stole 26 bases in 30 attempts, a very nice 86.7% success rate. This season he is a perfect 12-for-12 in stolen bases.
His sprint speed ranks in the 96th percentile. But there are a lot of fast players in baseball who can’t steal a base for the life of them. Turang is an exceptional baserunner who gets great jumps. And with the limits on throws to the bases by the pitchers, I fully expect him to take advantage of that and swipe 40 to 50 bases.
The Verdict
Brice Turang has never been a “top prospect.” The only season he broke the preseason top-100 rankings was ahead of the 2021 season when he was ranked 88th by Baseball America and 96th by MLB Pipeline. But unless you are a master at hoarding all the top 100 prospects and having them all hit at the MLB level, then your dynasty team more than likely consists of players just like Turang.
He is not going to hit for a lot of power, but you may be lacking a player who can help your slash line and really help with the stolen bases. Steals are up across the board in the majors, but it is always nice to have that one player who can rack up steals in bunches.
Right now Turang is only rostered in 64% of ESPN leagues, though that increases to 84% in Yahoo leagues. He may not be readily available to pick up off the waiver wire, but if you have an excess in one category and need steals and a hitter who will put up a decent OBP, then Turang is an excellent target and a great player to have for years to come.
