MLB continues to find new ways to disrespect Brewers' Brice Turang

Brice Turang is currently in the midst of his fourth season in the major leagues, and in each of the last three years, the Milwaukee Brewers' second baseman has been a part of All-Star conversations. However, with no clear path to the 2026 Midsummer Classic, and just four days remaining for one to materialize, the 26-year-old budding star appears to be at risk of being snubbed from the All-Star Game for the third consecutive season.

Back in 2024, after a debut campaign in 2023 during which Turang was among the worst qualified hitters in MLB, the Brewers' second baseman put together a shocking breakout during the first half of the season. At the end of June, as All-Star voting was in full swing, Turang was sporting a .292/.354/.417 slash line that easily had him among the best second basemen in the National League. Arizona Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte, by way of the fan vote, earned the starting role at the keystone position in the NL, and deservingly so.

However, when it came time for MLB to name the backup second baseman for the National League back in 2024, the league frustratingly went with then-San Diego Padres infielder Luis Arraez. Not only did Arraez barely play second base during the first half of the 2024 campaign, but he had a worse OPS, fewer home runs, fewer RBI, and fewer stolen bases than Turang prior to the All-Star Break. To make matters worse, Turang was an elite defender at second base, and Arraez, who once again was not a second baseman, was a brutal defender at the time.

Turang once again put together a strong first half during the 2025 season, slashing .274/.345/.366 with 39 RBI and 17 stolen bases, but he was barely even considered for a spot in last year's All-Star Game. To be fair, Marte and backup second baseman Brendan Donovan were both deserving of a spot in last year's Midsummer Classic, but it certainly felt as if Turang had built up a degree of karma should he once again be in the conversation in 2026.

However, karma or the benefit of the doubt or whatever you want to call it is certainly not on Turang's side this year. Not only did Turang miss out on MLB's initial All-Star roster reveal, but the Brewers' second baseman was once again snubbed by the league when Shohei Ohtani's replacement for the All-Star Game was announced. With all respect to St. Louis Cardinals' catcher/designated hitter Iván Herrera, Turang's most recent snub was egregious.

MLB once again passes up Brice Turang for All-Star Game roster as Cardinals' Iván Herrera somehow earns replacement spot

The fan vote didn't do any favors for Turang, and maybe that lack of success falls on Brewers fans, but given the voting trends this year, it's far more obvious that MLB's fan voting process heavily favors players on big-market teams. All nine of the National League's initial starting position players are members of one of the six biggest-market teams in the league. In fact, the only team that plays in one of the six largest markets in the NL and doesn't have a player in the All-Star Game starting lineup is the Chicago Cubs.

As a result of MLB's questionable decision to have fan voting determine the starters of the All-Star Game, Turang, and several other NL second basemen, undeservingly lost the starting role to Ozzie Albies of the Atlanta Braves. As frustrating as that announcement was for Turang, there was still an expectation that MLB would right their previous wrongs and name the Brewers' second baseman to the Midsummer Classic as the NL's reserve second baseman. However, when the reserves were announced on Independence Day, none other than Arraez was named the NL's backup second baseman.

To be fair, Arraez is a second baseman this year, and has certainly improved his defensive abilities. However, Turang has a better OPS, more home runs, more doubles, more walks, more RBI, more stolen bases, etc. In other words, Turang, despite having a lower batting average than Arraez, has been a much better player this year, and is therefore more deserving of a spot in the All-Star Game.

Brewers fans came to terms with Arraez once again beating out Turang for a spot in the Midsummer Classic, but last night, news surfaced that once again had Brewers fans believing their deserving second baseman would finally punch his ticket to the All-Star Game: Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani opted out of the All-Star Game due to left knee soreness, opening a spot in the NL's position player group. Brewers fans were hoping Turang would be named an All-Star in Ohtani's stead, but the honor instead went to Herrera, the Cardinals' catcher/designated hitter.

Sure, Ohtani was technically in the All-Star Game as a DH, and Herrera's main position this year has been DH, but does it really matter when Turang was far more deserving of the honor? Turang is better than Herrera in just about every offensive category and clearly offers far more value on the defensive side as well. Look no farther than the two players' fWAR, which is separated by nearly two wins; Turang checks in at 3.3 fWAR, and Herrera has compiled 1.5 fWAR thus far.

After the disrespect that Turang was shown in 2024 when Arraez was selected as the backup second baseman despite barely spending any time at the position, for MLB to turn around and once again snub Milwaukee's second baseman not once but twice in 2026 is incredibly frustrating for Brewers fans. Turang will hopefully get his chance in the Midsummer Classic at some point in the near future, but the rising star could easily have two All-Star Game selections to his name already.

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