Brice Turang predicted to lose Gold Glove to Cardinals’ rookie due to one incomplete statistic

Historically, second base was usually the position where you stashed your least-capable defensive infielder, especially after the advent of the shift. It was easy enough to cover for their deficiencies with an athletic shortstop or even a first baseman who could cover a lot of ground. But recently, elite keystone defense has become in vogue, in part thanks to guys like Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang.

One of just two second basemen to win the Platinum Glove since the award was introduced in 2011 (the other being Andrés Giménez in 2023), Turang has firmly established himself as one of the premier infield defenders in the league, regardless of position. He followed up his award-winning 2024 campaign with a Gold Glove finalist nod in 2025, ultimately falling just short of Nico Hoerner in the voting.

Here we are a year later, and it appears the story may be on the precipice of repeating itself. Turang has been tremendous with the glove in 2026, but another NL Central second baseman -- this time, it's St. Louis Cardinals rookie JJ Wetherholt -- is pulling ahead, at least according to MLB.com's experts.

But that doesn't mean Turang can't win his second Gold Glove. In fact, there's an argument to be made that he should actually be the leader in the clubhouse right now.

Brice Turang's Gold Glove odds are better than the national media believes

The defense given by MLB.com for Wetherholt's projected victory is that he leads all second basemen this year in Outs Above Average and Fielding Run Value (+21 each). Those are undeniably huge totals that easily pace the pack; for reference, Turang ranks fourth and second, respectively, in those categories (+12 each).

But the Brewers' star has opened up a similarly sized lead in Defensive Runs Saved. His +21 mark is seven ahead of second-place Nasim Nuñez and eight ahead of Wetherholt. That matters because OAA (and, to a lesser extent, FRV) is a range-based metric, which isn't quite as important for a second baseman as it is for, say, a center fielder.

DRS measures a more holistic sense of a player's defensive capability, mostly tuned to understand a fielder's ability to convert a batted ball into an out. Range is a part of that, of course, but it's less relevant here.

The voters, by the way, clearly know this. Turang won his Gold (and Platinum) Glove when he posted a whopping +22 DRS in 2024, which literally lapped the second-base field that year. By contrast, his OAA and FRV (+5 each) both ranked outside the top four at the position in the National League.

Snubs, of course, are nothing new for Turang. If he winds up losing the 2026 Gold Glove to Wetherholt, it won't come as a shock. But voting history suggests that he's probably got a better chance to win than most are giving him credit for right now.

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