This Brewer is playing elite defense even at new position

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

There was a time not too long ago when Brice Turang wouldn’t flinch when someone asked him whether he preferred to play shortstop or second base. For as long as he’s played baseball, Turang has been a shortstop.

Now, after a season manning second, his perspective has shifted a bit.

“I would always say, ‘I love short,’” Turang said. “But now with no shifts, second base has become a very defensive position because you have to cover way more ground. It’s changed the position a lot.

“So, I don’t know, I look at them the same now. I like them both a lot.”

He’s played second base at a Gold Glove-caliber level this year, according to both the eye test and the metrics. Over the 21 seasons since Baseball Info Solutions introduced defensive runs saved as a stat, Turang’s nine DRS this season already ranks second among Brewers second basemen to Craig Counsell’s 10 DRS in 2009, and Turang still has a month of regular season games to go. This season, only San Diego’s Ha-Seong Kim (12 DRS) has rated better. Turang also leads the NL in ultimate zone rating (3.7), a metric that compares a fielder’s outcomes to similarly-batted balls in the past to compare a player versus the average.

Statcast’s metrics aren’t as effusive. Turang has three outs above average, for example, which ranks fifth among NL second basemen. The Giants’ Thairo Estrada tops that leaderboard at 15 outs above average. Turang’s teammates and coaches would dispute that. They argue he should be in the discussion for the Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

“We’re at like 6-7 plays [this week] where you’re like, ‘Oh my God,’” Counsell said. “He’s saving runs. He’s saving big innings. He’s very special.”

“I think I said it in the beginning of the year, it’s a shortstop playing second base,” said the Brewers’ regular shortstop, Willy Adames. “I knew he was going to be really good because he works hard. As a shortstop moving to second base, he’s going to have a lot of range and a good arm. He’s athletic. He’s always going to make a lot of incredible plays. It’s just fun to watch him.”

Turang shifted to second base this season because Adames is entrenched at shortstop, but eventually that will change. Adames is arbitration-eligible this winter one final time before he reaches free agency following the 2024 season -- unless he’s traded or signed to an extension before then.

In Turang, the Brewers have a capable shortstop in waiting, provided the bat comes around. His 67 wRC+ means that Turang has been 33 percent below league average as a hitter.

But at a number of positions, like Turang at second base and Joey Wiemer in the outfield, the Brewers have decided not to chase more offense with other players in favor of fielding one of the best defenses in baseball.

Where does Turang expect to play in the long term?

“I have no idea,” he said. “I’m just going to go where they tell me to go.”