TWO DAYS AFTER Jackson Chourio’s walk-off hit in the National League Division Series, Brewers reliever D.L. Hall was asked for a pitcher’s perspective on facing the 22-year-old October sensation.
In other words, if he had to throw to Chourio, what would he do?
Hall didn’t say anything. Instead, he grinned as he held up four fingers to provide his answer, suggesting that walking him might be the best option. Considering the damage that Chourio has already done in his short playoff career, it’s understandable why a free pass might be tempting.
At 22 years old, Chourio is already one of the most decorated postseason players in Brewers history. The left fielder holds the Brewers’ playoff franchise records for home runs and RBI and is tied with Hall-of-Famer Andruw Jones for the most postseason RBI (17) ever for 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 level of special that comes out when the postseason is here.”
Which gets us back to the question posed to Hall.
Ashby tried to expound upon his teammate’s silent, succinct response about the challenge a pitcher faces against Chourio.
“When he’s locked in and he’s focused, it’s just his hands are so fast,” Ashby said. “I don’t know if, like, you can truly understand how impressive it is and how late of a decision 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-and-forth 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 win.
One night later, Chourio delivered the hit of the playoffs to this point and a moment that will live on highlight reels forever if Milwaukee’s 103-win season culminates in the team’s first World Series title.
“He loves those moments,” said Brewers captain Christian Yelich. “And he knows how talented he is and what he can do on a baseball field. He can do anything.”
Jackson Chourio was a huge reason that the Milwaukee Brewers were celebrating after eliminating the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series. (Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
THE BREWERS TRAILED by a run against the most unhittable, overpowering closer in the sport with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning. Mason Miller quickly got ahead 1-2 on Chourio, courtesy of three straight 100-plus 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, fouling off a two-strike, 103.5 mph heater on the outer edge.
Jackson Chourio delivered one of the biggest moments in Brewers franchise history with his walk-off, two-run single in Game 2 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres. (Getty Images)
Many players would be grateful just to make contact with that pitch. Chourio, meanwhile, seemed incredulous.
He smacked his bat with his right hand and paced in a semi-circle behind home plate, as if he couldn’t believe he didn’t do more damage with it. Then he gave the lumber a big whiff, returned to the batter’s box and locked back in.
The next pitch, an 88-mph slider, looked like a strike until it darted beneath the zone.
As much as Miller’s velocity attracts headlines, his slider is his primary put-away pitch. Opponents are geared up for the fastball and usually have no time to counter.
But Chourio somehow let it go.
“Taking that breaking ball the way he did,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said, “that was incredible.”
To understand what happened next requires harkening back to the past.
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 point, everything turned for me,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “I told myself I was never going to make the last out. I’d dedicate myself to fighting and doing whatever I could for the team and not having 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 Brewers’ Game 2 fate, one way or the other. He figured he’d see a fastball again at some point in the at-bat.
What followed was pandemonium.
Chourio sent the next pitch, a 101.3-mph four-seamer in the middle of the zone, back up the middle 109.5 mph off the bat and into center field to score two runs, handing Miller just his fourth blown save of the year and giving the Brewers a 2-0 lead in the series.
“The more experience he gets, the more situations he’s in, the more he kind of learns the league and just racks up the at-bats, he’s just going to continue to get better,” Yelich said. “And that’s kind of scary, because he’s pretty good right now.”
Chourio described that hit as a “top three” special moment in his career. It’s hard to imagine anything could top that, 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 POSTSEASON, CHOURIO went 5-for-7 with a home run, a double and six RBI in his first two games of the NLDS, helping send the Brewers past the Cubs. In the NLCS, he plated the Brewers’ only run off Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto with a solo shot to begin Game 2.
This year, he became the third player in MLB history to begin his career with three straight 20/20 seasons. This was Chourio’s most productive year yet. He set career highs in every slash-line 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 better underrated players in all of baseball.” And there is probably still a level untapped.
Injuries, including a lingering hamstring issue last year and a fractured hand this year, have played a part in preventing him from turning into an MVP-type player to this point. But Chourio possesses that kind of talent and potential, and he has displayed it in spurts.
Over the last two months of the 2026 season, Chourio slashed .319/.385/.531 with 12 home runs in 52 games. Over that span, he ranked sixth among all qualified position players in FanGraphs’ version of wins above replacement.
“Jack-Jack, he seems to just get better as the year goes on,” Murphy told me, “and it doesn’t seem like situations get to him.”
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 RBI this postseason (six) as the rest of his team combined.
His production has been more quality over quantity thus far.
Each of his three hits this October has made a significant impact, from his homer in Game 1 to his walk-off winner in Game 2 to his go-ahead RBI single in the deciding Game 4, which helped the Brewers punch their return ticket to the NLCS against Roberts’ Dodgers once again.
For a player who tends to rise to the occasion, there is no bigger test than the one ahead.
“He’s a special kid,” Ashby said. “And I’m glad he’s on our side.”
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