Brice Turang breaks longstanding Brewers franchise record through first 3 games of the season

Brewers manager Pat Murphy told the media when he named Brice Turang his starting second baseman this spring that he believed Turang was primed for a "quantum leap" in 2024. After a struggle-filled rookie year for the former first round pick, a quantum leap would be great news for Turang and the Brewers.

So far, through the first three games, Turang appears to be making good on Murphy's prediction, breaking a longstanding franchise record for most stolen bases through the first three games of the season.

In three games against the Mets to start the season, Turang has stolen four bases. No Brewers player in history has stolen four bases in the first three games of the year.

Previously the record was three stolen bases in the first three games, most recently set by Lorenzo Cain in 2018 but has been the mark since the 1970s and matched several times but never broken.

To make this record even more remarkable is that Turang wasn't even in the starting lineup on Opening Day. He pinch hit for Andruw Monasterio in the 7th inning in that game, before starting the next two games. Turang stole three bases on Saturday to quickly match the record. Then he stole another base on Sunday to break it and put himself in the history books.

Turang quietly stole 26 bases last year, while hitting .218 with a subpar .285 OBP. He has incredible speed and if he can just get on base a little more, that stolen base total is going to climb. He's already well on his way early on this season.

Turang's had a fantastic start to the year. On top of the stolen base record, he's hitting .455 (5 for 11) with a 1.000 OPS, including a double. Not to mention, he's continuing to provide outstanding defense at second base.

Murphy declared Turang would have a quantum leap in performance at the plate during this leap year and so far, so good. Turang is leading all of Major League Baseball in stolen bases through these three games. Time will tell if he'll still be leading the league after 162 games, but he's on a great pace and if his on-base rate continues to move positively, he will absolutely be in the race.

The Brewers haven't had a player lead the league in stolen bases since Jonathan Villar in 2016 when he swiped 62 bags. We'll see if Turang can reach that number and continue to rewrite the record books in 2024.