Is Brewers' Brice Turang the best second baseman in baseball?

In terms of "defensive runs saved," as calculated by The Fielding Bible, he's tied for 13th among second baseman with one defensive run saved, well behind Seattle's Cole Young (10) and St. Louis rookie JJ Wetherholt (6).

Statcast and its "outs above average" metric likes Turang even less, giving him a simple score of zero, tied with several others for 21st among second basemen. Luis Arraez has nine for San Francisco, while Wetherholt and Chicago's Nico Hoerner have seven.

Defensive metrics remain a work in progress. In 2024, Turang won a Gold Glove despite a fielding value of 6 (13th among second basemen), though Fielding Bible loved Turang that year, with DRS of 22 to lead his position group. Last year, Turang was regarded as the eighth-best second baseman in terms of DRS (7) and given a 1 value by OAA (while Hoerner had a position-best 17).

What about as an offensive player?

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang (2) hits an RBI double during the second inning of their game against the San Diego Padres Thursday, May 14, 2026 at American Family Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

First, the raw stats:

At 2.0, Turang is tied for the best WAR of any second baseman, according to Fangraphs, knotted with Miami's Xavier Edwards, though Wetherholt (1.9) and Pittsburgh's Brandon Lowe (1.8) aren't far behind. That number considers offense and defense; Turang is actually given a neutral zero value for defense and has the best offensive numbers.

Among second baseman, Turang is first in on-base percentage (.422) and OPS (.933), tied for first in runs (33), tied for second in RBIs (27), third in batting average (.298), second in slugging (.511), tied for fourth in homers (6) and tied for fourth in stolen bases (8). He's tops in wRC+ (weighted runs created) at 166, which is a stat that includes park factors and weighs offensive production, where 100 is average.

Statcast also views Turang as the best second baseman in baseball in terms of exit velocity (91.9), with Colorado's Edouard Julien (91.4), Texas' Ezequiel Duran (91.4) and Arizona's Ketel Marte (91.2) next on the list, followed by Wetherholt (89.9). Turang is second to Julien in hard-hit percentage (the percent of at-bats that end in hard contact).

Who are the other contenders for top 2B in baseball?

Detroit Tigers center fielder Parker Meadows (22) slides into second base ahead of the tag from St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) for a stolen base in the sixth inning at Comerica Park in Detroit on Sunday, April 5, 2026.

• Brandon Lowe (.908 OPS, 10 homers, 28 RBIs) has been a revelation for the Pirates, and he's up to 1.7 WAR. He is seen as an above-average defender by Statcast and right at average by DRS.
• JJ Wetherholt (.789 OPS, 8 homers, 22 RBIs) is one of the top defenders according to metrics, and he's also good at getting hit by pitches, with a league-leading eight. Baseball Reference gives him a 2.1 WAR, the same as Turang, though Turang has a healthy edge in wRC+.
• Nico Hoerner (.757 OPS, four homers, 27 RBIs) is coming off an elite season on both sides of the ball, and OAA (Statcast) still thinks he's the second-best second baseman on defense. He also has eight stolen bases. His offensive numbers are better than last year's (although not as good as Turang's in 2026), when he had a .739 OPS and hit seven homers for the year with 61 RBIs and 29 stolen bases. Hoerner has been at a .540 OPS since April 22.
• Xavier Edwards (.920 OPS, four homers, 15 RBIs) can't be discounted, though he doesn't grade out any better than Turang defensively and doesn't quite have the same offensive resume.
• Ketel Marte (.676 OPS, five homers, 13 RBIs) is the incumbent best second baseman in baseball over the past few years, but he's off to a slow start. The 32-year-old has made each of the past two National League all-star teams. He only has 0.2 WAR this year according to Baseball Reference, and his fielding is regarded just slightly above average.

So, is Brice Turang the best second baseman in baseball?

You can definitely make the argument, though it's not a runaway at this point.

The strangest data point: Defensive metrics regard him as only an average glove. As a hitter, he's at the top or close to it, and if you choose to ignore the defensive metrics and simply go with the eye test, he's as good as it gets.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Is Brice Turang MLB's best second baseman? We look at the evidence