The Milwaukee Brewers have one of the best young players in baseball in outfielder Jackson Chourio.
He didn’t get enough buzz last year as one of the best rookies in the league. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes and San Diego Padres’ Jackson Merrill got most of the Rookie of the Year love, but Chourio was fantastic in his own right.
Chourio finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year voting after slashing .275/.327/.464 with 21 home runs, 79 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, 29 doubles, and a .791 OPS. In most years, he likely would’ve won the Rookie of the Year Award. Having a 20-20 season at 20 years old is exceptionally rare.
How will he follow it up? ESPN’ David Schoenfield predicted he will reach a .900 OPS for the 2025 season.
“One (realistic) bold prediction: What can Chourio do for an encore? His most similar players list on Baseball-Reference includes Willie Mays, Bryce Harper, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones and Frank Robinson,” Schoenfield said. “That tells us about his potential. He also hit .310/.363/.552 in 63 second-half games. A .900 OPS for the entire season? Sure, let’s go there.”
If he can play at that level throughout the season and the Brewers have a healthy Christian Yelich and Rhys Hoskins for the season, there’s a chance that they don’t miss Willy Adames’ production in the lineup because these guys can make up for the loss. Brewers fans should be excited.
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