Turang, Frelick become Crew's 1st pair of Gold Glove winners since 1979
Adam McCalvy
@AdamMcCalvyMILWAUKEE -- For the first time in 45 years, a pair of Brewers were honored for glovework as good as gold.
Second baseman Brice Turang and right fielder Sal Frelick won Rawlings Gold Glove Awards for their work in the field in 2024, giving Milwaukee multiple winners for the first time since first baseman Cecil Cooper and outfielder Sixto Lezcano took home hardware in 1979.
¡°The identity of our team over the past few years has always been pitching and defense,¡± Frelick said. ¡°I think you take pride in that when you throw on the Brewers uniform and take the field knowing that is your identity. We have great staff, too, that put us in great positions.
¡°It¡¯s the culture of our organization. You take pride in that as a player.¡±
Both players are candidates for the Rawlings Platinum Glove, which goes to one Gold Glover in each league to denote the top overall defender. Fans can vote for that top honor through Thursday night.
Turang, the National League¡¯s overall leader with 22 defensive runs saved in 2024, is the first Brewers second baseman to win a Gold Glove and only the second middle infielder. Of the 11 Gold Gloves awarded to a Milwaukee player since first baseman George Scott took home the first in 1972, only one went to a middle infielder: Shortstop Robin Yount in 1982.
¡°Give him the Platinum Glove, man,¡± said Brewers closer Devin Williams of Turang back in July. ¡°He¡¯s the best defensive second baseman in the league, by far. I think it¡¯s time we recognize that.¡±
That was July 28, when Turang made a pair of diving catches in the same inning of a 6-2 win over the Marlins on the day Williams made his season debut. Turang, a 2018 first-round Draft pick, came up as a shortstop but found a home at second base in the Majors because the Brewers had Willy Adames entrenched at short.
Turang has thrived there, pushing his value beyond his .631 OPS in two big league seasons. He ranked 11th of all NL position players in Baseball Reference¡¯s version of Wins Above Replacement. Turang¡¯s 4.7 bWAR ranked a hair behind Bryce Harper (4.8), Mookie Betts (4.8) and Freddie Freeman (4.7), and ahead of Padres rookie Jackson Merrill (4.4) and Braves designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (4.3).
¡°I¡¯ve been saying it: I thought [Turang] was an All-Star, but you can¡¯t control those things,¡± Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. ¡°This kid¡¯s been incredible. If you look at the batting average, you¡¯re going to say, ¡®Well, he¡¯s fallen off.¡¯ But this kid plays virtually every day, the way [Adames] plays every day and William [Contreras] plays every day. They show up to compete every day. Turang is sincerely underrated. He¡¯s been a big part of this.¡±
Are there any metrics Turang particularly pays attention to?
¡°We do a lot of first-step metrics, so, like, how quick do you move three feet?¡± Turang said. ¡°The first step really matters. The distance you cover. How many plays you make that are routine compared to other guys. Stuff like that matters.
¡°But the main thing is winning. If I can help my team win, I¡¯ll do it any way possible. That¡¯s what really matters.¡±
Turang topped fellow finalists Ketel Marte of the D-backs and Bryson Stott of the Phillies for the award.
Frelick, meanwhile, emerged in right field over fellow finalists Jake McCarthy of the D-backs and Mike Yastrzemski of the Giants. Like Turang, he¡¯s a first-time winner. In fact, the 14 first-time winners were tied for most in a single year with 2022, the same year Rawlings introduced a utility position.
For Frelick, it was an especially notable feat considering he spent most of Spring Training learning to play third base. The Brewers saw Frelick moving around the field and picking up starts at third against right-handed starters, but that plan was scrapped when center fielder Garrett Mitchell fractured his finger in the waning days of camp.
¡°I think I may have taken one or two days during Spring Training with the outfielders,¡± Frelick said. ¡°Other than that, I was taking ground balls with the infielders. I think outfield is one of those positions that you can just go out and be athletic and succeed doing that. As soon as I went back out there, it was a smooth transition.¡±
Frelick¡¯s signature play came June 18 in Anaheim, where, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, he leapt at the right field wall to pull back what would have been a tying, three-run homer for the Angels¡¯ Taylor Ward. It was the highlight of a season in which Frelick led NL outfielders with 15 DRS.
¡°If Sal¡¯s near it,¡± Murphy said that night, ¡°it goes in his glove 99.9 percent of the time.¡±
The Brewers had one other Gold Glove candidate in Blake Perkins, who was one of three finalists in center field. But the honor went to the Rockies¡¯ Brenton Doyle.
"Sal, Brice and Blake are great competitors," Murphy said in a statement from the club. "Any good that comes their way makes me smile. It's great that they were all recognized by the league for their elite defensive execution. It was certainly a huge difference maker for our club.¡±
Brewers Gold Glove Award winners
George Scott, 1972-76 (first base)
Cecil Cooper, 1979-80 (first base)
Sixto Lezcano, 1979 (outfield)
Robin Yount, 1982 (shortstop)
Carlos G¨®mez, 2013 (center field)
Lorenzo Cain, 2019 (center field)
Brice Turang, 2024 (second base)
Sal Frelick, 2024 (right field)