It's hard to believe that the Milwaukee Brewers have one of the best young players in baseball on their roster in Jackson Chourio. It's even harder to believe that he's only been able to legally drink alcohol for two weeks.
Chourio, just barely 21 years of age, is only just beginning his big league career but he's already got a third place finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting under his belt, as well as some stray MVP votes. The budding superstar posted 4.8 bWAR last season while recording 29 doubles, 21 home runs, 79 RBI, and going 22-for-29 in stolen base attempts. Such a young player performing at this high of a level is not something you come across often.
There's been an energy around Chourio to begin the 2025 campaign, and it seems that there's a very good chance that he's got a whole lot more in him than what he showed this past season. If that is indeed the case - and as of right now we've got no reason to believe otherwise - then the league should be on high alert as Opening Day nears.
Jackson Chourio is putting up RIDICULOUS numbers this spring
— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 23, 2025
🔵 .489 AVG
🔵 .521 OBP
🔵 .733 SLG
🔵 1.254 OPS pic.twitter.com/IBvbcOy6wZ
Jackson Chourio is ready to blow projections out of the water in 2025
According to FanGraphs' ZiPS projections, Chourio looks to be good for 20 home runs, 85 RBI, a 108 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR in the coming season. Those numbers sure do feel low, and his red-hot spring showing likely means that we're going to see a whole lot more out of the youngster in the immediate future.
Through 17 games in spring training, Chourio hit just one home run but he also scored 13 runs, drove in eight more, hit nine doubles and went 6-for-7 in stolen bases. He also posted a line of .469/.509/.714 with a jaw-dropping 1.223 OPS through 49 at-bats. Sure, basically none of that is sustainable over the course of a full season (unless?), but this offensive outburst from Chourio could very well spell good news for the Brewers.
So frequently do we see sophomore slumps take young baseball players by surprise. The early returns on Chourio heading into year two show that he may very well be immune to such a thing.