Brice Turang's 2025 improvement is even more impressive than his 2024 "quantum leap"

Prior to the 2024 season, the prophetic Pat Murphy predicted that his second-year second baseman, Brice Turang, would see a massive improvement from his 2023 numbers over the course of the year. In fact, Murphy said, as reported by several Brewers insiders, that Turang would take a "quantum leap" forward from where he finished the 2023 season.

As prophets always are, Murphy was correct in his prediction. After a rookie campaign that saw Turang finish with what would have been the worst OPS among qualified hitters in the National League (Turang didn't collect enough at-bats to earn the unwanted title), the Brewers' 2018 first-round pick became a legitimate All-Star candidate in 2024.

Despite his numbers falling off slightly at the end of the season, Turang still finished with an OPS that was 80 points higher than his 2023 mark. He improved his home run, RBI, and stolen base outputs, bumped his batting average from a paltry .218 to a respectable .254, and also took home the National League's Platinum Glove, which is awarded to the league's best overall defender regardless of position. Without a doubt, it was a quantum leap from his 2023 season.

However, if what Turang did last year was a quantum leap, what do you call what he's done this season? Despite his 2024 campaign being one of the best breakout seasons in all of baseball, Brice Turang has taken an even bigger step in 2025.

Brice Turang's improvement from 2024 to 2025 is better than the breakout he had in 2024

Let's look at some numbers. First off, walk rate. Despite Turang making significant improvements in batting average last season, he walked less than he did as a rookie in 2023. In his rookie season, he held an 8.5% walk rate, which is a fine spot to be (league average is generally 8-9%). However, in 2024, when Turang took his quantum leap, his walk rate actually decreased to 8.1%. This season, Turang is drawing free passes in 9.3% of his plate appearances, which is a large reason for his impressive .344 OBP.

However, while Turang has improved at drawing walks and getting on base this season, where he's made the biggest strides is in the power department. On the surface, Turang has already slugged 13 home runs this season, which far outdoes his improvement from six longballs in 2023 to seven homers last year. However, the underlying metrics tell an even better story of Turang's improvement. A season ago, Turang was hitting just 29.4% of his batted balls at an exit velocity of 95 mph or higher, according to FanGraphs. It was better than the 26.0% hard hit rate that he posted as a rookie, but it doesn't even compare to the 45.3% mark that he's posted this season. He's barreling nearly three times as many pitches as he did a season ago, which is one of the rare metrics that actually took a dip from 2023 to 2024. In the end, it's combined for an improvement of Turang's slugging percentage from .349 a season ago to .418 this year, a metric that only improved by 49 points from 2023 to 2024.

With more barrels, higher exit velocities, and more home runs, you might assume that Turang is simply pulling the ball more, taking advantage of the extra power that one gets when they turn on an inside fastball or jump on a hanging breaking ball. However, Turang is actually pulling the ball at a lower clip than he has throughout his career. But he's not just using all fields to improve his batting average, which has jumped to .280 this season, he's also sending homers out to all parts of the ballpark, with eight of his 12 homers coming between left and right center field.

Just like it wasn't a season ago, Turang's improvement this year hasn't been across the board. His defense is down, he's striking out slightly more, and he's not stealing bases at the ridiculous pace that he did a season ago. However, the improvements that he's made, particularly in the power department, after the breakout season that he had in 2024 are more impressive than the quantum leap that he took a season ago. Power doesn't just come out of nowhere; it takes a strenuous combination of building strength, making necessary stance and swing adjustments, and having a detailed plan in place for every at-bat. Turang has checked all those boxes in what has been his second straight breakout season.