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Brewers Second Baseman Getting Extra Inspiration on Offense from Franchise Legend

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Matt Carroll | Last updated Apr 10, 2025 8:40 AM ET

Over the years, baseball players have tried seemingly everything to gain a mental edge at the plate. Special walkup songs, specific batting stances, or personal superstitions all vary from player to player, but they’ll take anything that works.

Even a special pair of batting gloves.

Perhaps that’s what’s behind the early offensive success of Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang. The traditionally light-hitting 25-year-old has had a hot start to the season, slashing .327/.358/.531 in 12 games with a double, three homers, and eight RBIs.

Turang has been more known for his defense than his offense early in his career. Last year he won the Platinum Glove as the best overall defender in his league. Wanting to get better at the plate as well, he turned to a Brewers legend over the offseason for advice.

Before the season, according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Todd Rosiak, Turang had a chat with Milwaukee great Ryan Braun. Among other things, baseball equipment came up in the conversation and it resulted in Braun providing Turang with some of the goods that helped the former become a star.

Brice Turang has been wearing Ryan Braun’s 2011 batting gloves at the plate this season, including in last night’s game when he hit his career-long 444-foot homer.

Braun sent him several pairs after the two had a chat in spring training. pic.twitter.com/CbBzB8pkLK
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) April 9, 2025

Of course, Brewers fans are well aware of the legend of Ryan Braun. The 14-year MLB vet and former NL MVP spent his entire career in Milwaukee, slashing a career .296/.358/.532 with a franchise-leading 352 home runs and 216 stolen bases.

It hasn’t taken long for Turang to harness the mental power of the gloves and that was evident in Tuesday’s game against the Rockies. In the top of the seventh he crushed a solo homer a whopping 444 feet to center field to extend his team’s lead to 5-1.

The logical explanation for Turang’s step forward on offense is more likely due to a 25-year-old naturally further tapping into his potential. Or hey, maybe it’s the gloves.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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