Brewers slugger Jackson Chourio has emerged into baseball's newest superstar

MILWAUKEE – Baseball, meet your newest superstar: Jackson Chourio.

Immediately after Game 2 of the wild card series, in which he hit two home runs in the Milwaukee Brewers’ thrilling 5-3 comeback victory against the Mets, Chourio’s teammates were left stunned. Sal Frelick described him as “absolutely electric.” Garrett Mitchell referred to him as an “absolute stud.” Pat Murphy, the Brewers’ manager, laughed and called him “pretty special.”

What Chourio did Monday night is unlike anything baseball has seen. He hit a game-tying home run off Sean Manaea to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Then with the Brewers trailing 3-2 and six outs away from elimination, Chourio hit an opposite-field home run off Phil Maton to tie the game at three before Garrett Mitchell hit the game-winning two-run homer in the eighth inning.

“I think the adrenaline is still getting to me,” Chourio said. “I think I still feel the adrenaline there.”

Jackson Chourio's October heroics for Brewers puts baseball on notice

At age 20, he became the second player in baseball history to hit two game-tying home runs in the same postseason game. The other? Babe Ruth in Game 4 of the 1928 World Series. He also is the youngest player in baseball history with two hits in a postseason game, a feat he has accomplished twice in two career postseason games.

“It’s crazy any time you hear people say his age,” Hoskins said. “You still kind of can’t believe it.”

“You wouldn’t know that he was 20 years old with how he plays the game,” Mitchell said.

But these Brewers have come to expect this from Chourio. The organization has seen it in Chourio since he was signed for $1.8 million as an international free agent in 2021. They have seen it as he has risen through their farm system, emerging as the best prospect in baseball last season. And before he had even taken an at-bat in the majors, they rewarded him with an eight-year, $82 million contract with two club options that has a maximum total value of $142.5 million.

Some in the industry viewed the deal as a major risk. But the Brewers were convinced that Chourio was the next face of the franchise and were aggressive in signing him long-term. That belief extended to the clubhouse, with Rhys Hoskins saying this spring that Chourio reminded him of Ronald Acuna Jr., a player he faced frequently across the last six seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies.

“He has a long way to go to become Acuna,” Hoskins said. “He runs. He’s only gotten better in the outfield. He can bunt. He can get on base on a swinging bunt. He can also hit a home run. Just the smoothness and athleticism that he plays with reminds me of Acuna.”

Hoskins and other Brewers players believe that Chourio will only get better. After all, at age 20, it’s possible that he’s only scratching the surface of his potential. But the growth throughout the regular season has caught the attention of teammates and coaches. His at-bats have improved. He has been consistently placed atop the lineup. The way that his defense - once a liability - has improved and allowed Murphy to comfortably play him every day in the outfield.

“That’s the really, really cool part is how much he’s grown,” Hoskins said. “But that’s also kind of the scary part is how much more is this guy going to get better? But it’s in there. He can do everything. There’s not many guys who can say that.”

This spring, Chourio showed up to spring training as a “wide-eyed kid trying to see what it takes to be in the big leagues.” Now, in the biggest game of his young career, Chourio solidified himself as one of the most clutch players in franchise history – and gave the Brewers an opportunity to advance to the National League Divisional Series on Thursday when it appeared they were only minutes away from elimination.

“It was a very special moment for me,” Chourio said, “and it’s one that I’m going to look back on and remember for the rest of my life.”