Padres Are Facing A New Unstoppable Star For Milwaukee

The San Diego Padres are down 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS, and the player who’s responsible for a lot of this is a relative unknown to most casual fans around the league. But Jackson Chourio is quickly making a name for himself as a young star, and the 22-year old outfielder is turning into a Padres nemesis. 

The evidence is everywhere, starting with the at-bat the Chourio posted against closer Mason Miller, who typically dominates every hitter he faces. But that didn’t stop Chourio, who fought off one pitch after another with two outs and the bases loaded, with most of those pitches clocking in at 100 mph or more. 

Tyler Kepner of The Athletic did a revealing followup on what Chourio is doing, starting with an unusual tactic by Brewers manager Pat Murphy. The manager put Chourio in the leadoff spot in Sunday’s 4-3 comeback win over the Padres in the second game of the series, mirroring what San Diego does with outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. 

This wasn’t exaclty brain surgery, either. When asked what was behind the move, Murphy explained that the goal was to get Chourio up as many times as possible. 

It’s a familiar move in today’s analytics-driven game, and Chourio certainly has the speed to handle the role, although he’s not a base stealer per se. But the home crowd came alive with Chourio up in the ultimate clutch situation, and what the outfielder is doing to the Padres now isn’t exactly new.

Per Kepner,  Chourio has played in 14 postseason games so far in his young career, which is close to as many postseason games as  franchise icons Robin Yount and Paul Molitor played in back in the 80s. 

Credit that to today’s expanded playoff format, but Chourio’s 1.030 OPS is higher than Yount’s, according to the writer, and his .327 average is better than Molitor’s. With five home runs so far, Chourio already holds the Milwaukee’s franchise record in that department.  

Chourio also represents the counterpoint to the typical Brewers attack and the rallies that take place. Many of Milwaukee’s rallies are death by paper cuts, and the Brewers applied constant pressure against San Diego in Sunday’s win. 

But Chourio is one of the Brewers’ primary power threats, which is why the crowd comes alive. He said he knew Miller was “a little erratic” during his penultimate at-bat in the bottom of the ninth, and he knew the fastball was coming. Chourio didn’t miss it when he got one he could handle, and now the Brewers are on the verge of advancing to the NLCS.