We Are Witnessing Jackson Chourio Become a Captial-S Superstar

Michael McLoone-Imagn Images During Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, as Milwaukee’s effervescent 22-year-old Jackson Chourio stood in for his fifth-inning at-bat and calmly studied Tarik Skubal’s dominating posture from sixty feet, six inches away, the television broadcast flashed a graphic on the screen. It showed that, at that point in the postseason — already Chourio’s third — the young Venezuelan outfielder was 3-for-5 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-13 without. While, of course, the Brewers would like a little more all-around production from their bright-eyed, bushy-tailed phenom, those three hits were about as stirring as they could be. The first was a two-run home run off Robbie Ray in Game 1 of the NLDS that both tied the game in the bottom of the third inning and supplied Milwaukee’s first runs of the playoffs, clearing a hefty mental checkpoint for a team that’s struggled to score in October. The second was his two-out, two-strike rocket off Mason Miller to walk off Game 2 and give the 2026 Division Series its signature moment. The third was an RBI single off Bradgley Rodriguez in Game 4 that put the Brewers ahead en route to a series win. Three hits — one off a former Cy Young winner, another against the most dominant reliever to emerge in years — all of which drove in huge runs, and all of which furthered Chourio’s case as one of the game’s true superstars. Like the Moneyball A’s with Miguel Tejada, or the present day Rays with Junior Caminero, the Brewers’ billing as a scrappy, penniless organization ignores the fact they also have an MVP-caliber player anchoring their offense. While second baseman Brice Turang — he of the 21 homers, 100 RBI, 5.9 WAR, and monumental tater in NLCS Game 1 — is a mighty fine player in his own right, it is Chourio that will take the team’s superstar throne from incumbent but declining captain Christian Yelich. Armed with a gorgeous, compact swing and the type of slow heart rate that lends itself perfectly to the anxious moments, Chourio has all the makings of a player that Wisconsinites will reminisce about from their cottages and ice fishing shacks for generations. In fact, when presented with the idea that this era of Milwaukee baseball will be remembered as “Pat Murphy’s Brewers,” the skipper immediately deferred and name checked Chourio — not Turang, Jacob Misiorowski, or William Contreras — as the real headliner.FanGraphs Playoff Coverage Is for MembersYou must be a Member in order to read our postseason coverage. You can read our announcement here, but it's not the only reason you should consider becoming a Member. Membership includes:✓Ad-free browsing✓Unlimited FanGraphs & RotoGraphs articles✓Historical & platoon projections✓Leaderboard & player-page stat heatmaps✓One-click data exports✓Customizable player-page dashboards✓Dark & Classic site modes✓Weekly Members-only mailbag✓FanGraphs Walk-Off, your year in review✓Optional homepage photo removal✓Gift articles to non-Members✓Full postseason coverage