TWO DAYS LATER Jackson Chourio’s hit in the National League Division Series, Brewers reliever DL Hall was asked for a pitcher’s perspective on facing the 22-year-old October sensation.
In other words, if he had to throw at Chourio, what would he do?
Hall said nothing. Instead, he smiled as he held up four fingers to give his answer, suggesting that walking with him might be the best option. Considering the damage Chourio has already done in his short playoff career, it’s understandable why a free pass might be tempting.
At 22, Chourio is already one of the most decorated postseason players in Brewers history. The left fielder holds the Brewers’ franchise playoff records for home runs and RBIs and is tied with Hall-of-Famer Andrew Jones for the most postseason RBIs (17) ever by a player under the age of 23.
It took Jones 45 games to reach the mark. Chourio needed just 16.
“Not that he’s much different in the regular season,” Brewers reliever Aaron Ashby told me, “but I think there’s a special level that comes out when the postseason comes around.”
Which brings us back to the question posed to Hall.
Ashby tried to explain his teammate’s muted and terse response to the challenge facing a pitcher against Chourio.
“When he’s locked in and focused, his hands are just so quick,” Ashby said. “I don’t know if, like, you can really understand how impressive it is and how late a decision it is that he can make at the plate and still hit the ball like 110 (mph) the other way.”
There was no better example than Game 2 of the National League Division Series.
In the first game of a back-to-back series against the Padres, Chourio launched his fifth career postseason homer in just his 13th playoff game, breaking a tie with Prince Fielder and Orlando Arcia for the most in franchise history. The home run erased an early two-run Brewers deficit in an eventual 3-2 victory.
A night later, Chourio delivered the hit of the playoffs to this point and a moment that will live forever in the highlights if Milwaukee’s 103-win season culminates in the team’s first World Series title.
“He loves those moments,” Brewers skipper Christian Yelich said. “And he knows how talented he is and what he can do on a baseball field. He can do anything.”
Jackson Chourio was a big reason the Milwaukee Brewers were celebrating after eliminating the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series. (Photos by Rob Tringali/MLB via Getty Images)
BREWERS WRITE by one run against the no-hitter, beating the closer in the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning. Mason Miller quickly went 1-2 on Chourio, courtesy of three 100 mph fastballs.
In the regular season, hitters were 7-for-101 (.069) with 71 strikeouts and four walks against Miller after a 1-2 count. But Chourio battled back, breaking a two-strikeout, 103.5 mph heater on the outfield.
Jackson Chourio delivered one of the greatest moments in Brewers franchise history with his two-run single in Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres. (Getty Images)
Many players would be grateful just to contact that field. Chourio, meanwhile, looked incredulous.
He swung his bat with his right hand and walked in a semicircle behind home plate, as if he couldn’t believe he hadn’t done more damage with it. Then he gave the lumber a great whiff, returned to the batter’s box, and locked himself back inside.
The next pitch, an 88 mph slider, looked like a strike until it bounced down the bullpen.
As much as Miller’s velocity grabs the headlines, his slider is his primary pitch. Opponents are primed for the fastball and usually don’t have time to counter.
But Chourio somehow let it go.
“To take the breaking ball the way he did,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “was unbelievable.”
To understand what happened next, we have to go back in time.
Two years ago, seven games into a 2024 season that saw Chourio finish third in National League Rookie of the Year voting, the 20-year-old outfielder struck out to end a game against Mariners closer Andres Muñoz.
“At that moment, everything turned around for me,” Chourio said through a translator. “I told myself I would never do it last. I would dedicate myself to fight and do everything I could for the team and not have that feeling again.”
Mariners’ Andrés Muñoz strikes out Jackson Chourio to seal the win
Fast forward to last Sunday in Milwaukee, when Chourio would decide the fate of the Brewers’ Game 2, one way or the other. He figured he’d see a fastball again at some point in the at-bat.
What followed was the explosion.
Chourio sent the next pitch, a 101.3 mph four-footer up the middle of the zone, backing up to 109.5 mph off the bat and into center field to score two runs, giving Miller just his fourth save of the year and giving the Brewers a 2-0 series lead.
“The more experience he gets, the more situations he’s in, the more he learns the league and accumulates at-bats, he’s just going to continue to get better,” Yelich said. “And that’s kind of scary, because he’s doing so well now.”
Chourio described that hit as a special “top three” moment in his career. It’s hard to imagine that anything could top this, but there are already plenty to choose from.
In his rookie year, he became the youngest player in MLB history to record a 20-homer, 20-steal season. That postseason, he hit two homers in Game 2 of the wild-card series and joined Babe Ruth as the only players ever to hit two game-tying home runs in the same playoff game.
“He’s certainly a ‘big moment’ guy,” Ashby said.
LAST SEASON, CHOURIO went 5-for-7 with a home run, a double and six RBIs in his first two NLDS games, helping the Brewers past the Cubs. In the NLCS, he plated Brewers shortstop Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a single to start Game 2.
This year, he became the third player in MLB history to begin his career with three consecutive 20/20 seasons. This was Chourio’s most productive year to date. He set career highs in every line drive category, as well as hits, homers, runs and steals, while providing elite defense in left field.
His opposing manager in the NLCS, Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts, described him as “one of the most underrated players in all of baseball.” And perhaps there is still an untapped level.
Injuries, including a lingering hamstring problem last year and a broken hand this year, have played a role in preventing him from developing into an MVP-type player to this point. But Chourio possesses that kind of talent and potential, and he has displayed it in spades.
Over the final two months of the 2026 season, Chourio slashed .319/.385/.531 with 12 home runs in 52 games. During that span, he ranked sixth among all qualified position players in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement.
“Jack-Jack, he just seems to be getting better as the year goes on,” Murphy told me, “and situations don’t seem to go his way.
Chourio carried that form into October and the NLDS against the Padres, where he knocked in runs in all four games. The left fielder has as many RBIs this postseason (six) as the rest of his team combined.
His output so far has been more qualitative than quantitative.
Each of his three hits this October has had a significant impact, from his Game 1 homer to his walk-off game-winner in Game 2 to his go-ahead RBI single in the decisive Game 4 that helped the Brewers punch their ticket back to the NLCS against Roberts’ Dodgers once again.
For a player who tends to rise to the occasion, there is no greater test than that up front.
“He’s a special kid,” Ashby said. “And I’m glad he’s on our side.”
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