The Milwaukee Brewers were already staring the end of their season in the face, trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 late in a must-win Game 3 of the NLCS. And now, the uphill climb just somehow got even steeper, as the Brewers lost star outfielder Jackson Chourio to injury in the top of the seventh inning.
Chourio was already battling through a hamstring injury he first suffered in Milwaukee's NLDS win over the Chicago Cubs last week. It seems like that issue reared its head again on Thursday: After taking a big cut during his at-bat in the seventh, Chourio could hardly bend his right leg, immediately heading back to the dugout before being replaced by pinch-hitter Blake Perkins.
Jackson Chourio leaves the game with an apparent right leg injury in the 7th inning and is replaced by Blake Perkins. #NLCS pic.twitter.com/elRweQiAH9
— MLB (@MLB) October 17, 2025
Perkins was promptly retired as the Brewers stranded a runner in scoring position, heading to the bottom of the seventh down by two runs in a game they absolutely had to have to keep themselves in this series. Milwaukee has yet to issue an update on Chourio's status, but based on the context surrounding his injury, you have to think this will be an extended absence. Chourio's hamstring has been an issue for months now: It first popped up at the end of July, when the 21-year-old was forced to spend a full month on the IL. He returned to the lineup at the start of September but wasn't quite himself at the plate, posting just a .599 OPS over his final 23 regular-season games.
In the postseason, however, he started to look more like himself again. Chourio wore out the Cubs, putting up five hits including a homer across the first two games while leading the Brewers to a pair of convincing wins. He homered again in Game 2, the sole run Milwaukee would score against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which raised his October slash line to a healthy .320/.333/.640 entering Thursday.
Unfortunately, he hasn't gotten much of any help. Chourio and Caleb Durbin are the only qualified Brewers hitters with a postseason OPS above .731, as the pass-the-baton approach that worked so well from March through September has largely fallen apart against elite pitching in October. It sure seems like that's going to bury what felt like a dream season for Milwaukee, as now the team's best player is likely out of the picture.
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Jackson Chourio injury is fitting final nail in the coffin of Brewers' dream season
It really felt like this time might be different. Milwaukee had seen plenty of plucky teams over the last few years, teams that punched above their weight to stay atop the NL Central and set up a potential playoff run. And yet, time after time, those teams fell flat in the hothouse of the postseason, wilting when the lights were brightest.
While the Brewers were busy rampaging through the rest of the National League this season, their fans tried to tell themselves that a similar fate wasn't awaiting them in October. And technically, they were right: Milwaukee survived a five-game slugfest against the rival Cubs in their opening series, earning their first NLCS appearance since 2018.
Unfortunately, they've just run into a talent deficit (and, frankly, a spending deficit) too wide to ignore. This is a game Brewers team, but it's not one long on top-end talent, especially with Brandon Woodruff on the shelf with a shoulder injury. That gap was particularly acute across the first two games of this series, in which two high-priced Dodgers aces silenced Milwaukee's lineup for a combined 17 innings of one-run ball.
Chourio was one of the team's few chances to level the playing field a bit. He's already one of the most physically gifted players in the sport, opening his MLB career with two straight 20-20 seasons while displaying jaw-dropping power and athleticism. Without him, and with Christian Yelich mired in a miserable slump, it's hard to know where the Brewers should turn for offense, or even just for someone who can answer the likes of Mookie Betts.