PHOENIX – You don’t see many 14-pitch plate appearances in Spring Training.
You don’t see many grand slams sail over the batter’s eye, either.
Brewers second baseman Brice Turang parlayed one into the other on back-to-back workdays this week, grinding his way through that 14-pitch walk in Tuesday’s win against the Athletics before hitting a pair of home runs on a five-RBI afternoon in a 13-12 win over the Giants at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Wednesday.
It’s all leading up to his departure next week to join Team USA for the World Baseball Classic.
“I was seeing the ball really well, just a little late,” Turang said of the long walk. “It’s just part of it in the third game [of Spring Training]. I was trying to get back on time.”
For manager Pat Murphy, it was the highlight of Tuesday’s 10-0 win over the A’s.
“That was special,” Murphy said. “That’s the point of the game right there. That’s the message you want to send everybody else.”
A day later, Turang was most definitely on time. Turang hit a solo homer in the first inning against Giants starter (and former Brewer) Adrian Houser that left the bat at 106.5 mph and sailed a projected 400 feet, according to Statcast. Then Turang followed a trio of Brewers walks to hit his grand slam in the fourth – 108.2 mph off the bat and a projected 425 feet.
It flew over the batter’s eye in center field to finish a seven-run scoring rally. It was one of two big rallies for the Brewers, who answered the Giants’ four-run ninth inning with three in the bottom of the inning for the win on non-roster outfielder Greg Jones’ walk-off sacrifice fly.
Turang will stay focused with the Brewers for three more days before departing to join Team USA in Scottsdale. The Americans have exhibitions against the Giants on March 3 and the Rockies on March 4 before traveling to Houston to begin Pool B play against Brazil on March 6.
“I’m just excited to go play,” Turang said. “You want to feel right, want to be right before you head out.”