After Turang's back-to-back run-saving plays, 'give him the Platinum Glove, man'

MILWAUKEE -- Two months still remain in the regular season, but Brice Turang's teammates are ready to start making room on his mantel for a Rawlings Gold Glove Award.

Brewers closer Devin Williams wants to go farther.

“Give him the Platinum Glove, man,” said Williams, who returned from the injured list to finish Sunday’s 6-2 win over the Marlins at American Family Field. “He’s the best defensive second basemen in the league, by far. I think it’s time we recognize that.”

It was hard to ignore it after Turang turned in one of the best defensive innings in baseball this season by making not one, but two diving catches in the third inning. Both came with the bases loaded and the Brewers clinging to a one-run lead in a game they had to win after dropping the first two games of the series.

“Huge,” said Brewers starter Tobias Myers, the pitcher whose ERA was on the line as Turang took flight. “I think he saved four runs in two pitches. That’s Gold Glove stuff right there. He’s been doing it for a long time.”

The first catch was to Turang’s left to take away a hit from Jesús Sanchez.

The other was to Turang’s right to rob Otto Lopez and end the inning.

“The second one was hit harder than the first one,” Turang said. “They’re so reactionary. You’re reacting to them. You’re trying to make an out. There’s nothing more to it. You’re trying to get a good read on the ball and make an out.”

For an infielder, the catches were the equivalent of an outfielder robbing a home run against back-to-back batters. Turang, a natural shortstop who has manned second base for the Brewers the past two years because Willy Adames is entrenched at short, couldn’t remember that happening before.

Neither could Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who has a couple of more games under his belt than the 24-year-old former first-round Draft pick.

“When [those plays] go the other way,” Murphy said, “that’s when your guts fall out.”

Confirmed.

“Brice Turang was the MVP of the game,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “Diving play to his right and left with traffic obviously saved a lot of runs today. He's one of the better second baseman in the league. We just hit them right at him.”

Defensive metrics haven’t always captured the value of Turang, who went into Sunday ranked 99th in baseball and 19th among second basemen at two outs above average. Other metrics better capture his impact; Turang’s 14 defensive runs saved are tops among Major Leaguers at any position.

“I’ve been saying it: I thought he was an All-Star, but you can’t control those things,” Murphy said. “This kid’s been incredible. If you look at the batting average you’re going to say, ‘Well, he’s fallen off.’ But this kid plays virtually every day, the way [Adames] plays every day and William [Contreras] plays every day. They show up to compete every day. Turang is sincerely underrated. He’s been a big part of this.”