Brewers: 5 Bold Predictions For The 2024 Season

Bold Prediction #4: Jackson Chourio struggles in April, but gets hot in May and never looks back, wins NL Rookie of the Year

There's always an adjustment period for young players reaching the big leagues for the first time. Jackson Chourio, who has already received an 8 year contract extension, will be making his debut on Opening Day and the Brewers have preached patience as he goes through the ups and inevitable downs of the major leagues.

Chourio is as highly touted as it gets. He has received comparisons to Ronald Acuna, Mike Trout, and Julio Rodriguez. He's a hitting savant, he's naturally gifted. He just turned 20 years old, he's not even legally allowed to drink beer yet. Yet he's going to be the face of the Brewers.

Last year, when Chourio was challenged with starting the year in Double-A as a 19 year old, he struggled for the first bit of the season. Then he figured it out and went on a tear. I think we'll see something similar here in 2024.

Chourio I think will struggle a bit out of the gate. He's at the highest level, it's cold weather, tough pitching, and he'll struggle to adjust in the early going. As the saying goes, the bat will heat up as the weather heats up and I think Chourio will figure it out after a month, put together a very good month of May, and he'll just keep hitting and getting better from there.

I predict he's going to mash his way to an NL Rookie of the Year crown. The NL will be a tough race with nine-figure international signings Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Jung-Hoo Lee also eligible for the award. But Yamamoto has struggled in spring and in the Seoul Series, while Lee plays in a cavernous park in San Francisco that dampens hitting stats.

I think Chourio will finish the year in the .270-.275 range for batting average with 20+ homers and 30+ steals. That's my prediction for his numbers, which should be plenty to get himself as the frontrunner for the NL Rookie of the Year.