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At the start of the season, FanGraphs gave the Milwaukee Brewers just a 30.1 percent chance to make the playoffs, projecting an 80-win season.
Fast forward to September, and the Brewers have already surpassed that mark, sitting on 81 wins with 23 games left in the regular season after Tuesday’s 7-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Leading the charge for Milwaukee is a group of young players, none more impactful than 20-year-old outfielder Jackson Chourio.
When Milwaukee signed the Venezuelan prospect to an eight-year, $82M deal before he had even played a big league game, eyebrows were raised. Could this young outfielder truly live up to the hype? The answer, as August proved, is a resounding yes.
After a rough start to the season — highlighted by a meager .542 OPS in May and 47 strikeouts in his first two months — Chourio has turned things around. His struggles culminated in a botched play on May 28, but rather than letting the pressure consume him, Chourio found solace in the support of his teammates.
The Brewers began “loving up” on their rookie, and the results were immediate. Chourio posted a .897 OPS in June and .876 in July, with his true breakout coming in August when he racked up a .926 OPS over 28 games, helping the Brewers to a 19-9 record for the month.
In an interview with MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy, Brewers manager Pat Murphy summed it up perfectly: “He’s got just enough smile and just enough intensity, just enough focus. It seems like he’s born to do this.”
Chourio’s youthful exuberance, once a potential liability, has become his greatest asset as he barrels toward the postseason with confidence and flair. His viral moments — a broken scoreboard and a called grand slam — are the stuff of legend.
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