Brewers' 20-year-old rookie Jackson Chourio stepping up his game in postseason

MILWAUKEE (AP) — That $82 million contract Jackson Chourio signed before ever playing a major league game looks like more and more of a bargain with every swing the Milwaukee Brewers rookie takes this postseason.

Chourio homered twice Wednesday night to help the Brewers save their season with a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets in Game 2 of their NL Wild Card Series. That included a leadoff homer and then a tying drive to start Milwaukee's three-run rally in the eighth inning.

“It’s must-see TV every time he comes up to bat,” Brewers closer Devin Williams said.

It sure has felt that way lately.

Rather than shrinking in the postseason spotlight, the 20-year-old rookie has thrived. He went 2 for 4 during an 8-4 loss in Game 1 and delivered even bigger fireworks one day later.

“The pressure is always going to be there,” Chourio said through a translator. "So as a player, our job is to control it the best way possible. So it’s to go out there and find the moments where we can control it and keep going out there and doing what we do.”

Chourio led off the bottom of the first inning by hitting a 376-foot shot over the right-field wall on an 0-2 sinker from Sean Manaea. That made him the youngest player to hit a leadoff homer in the postseason.

He also produced the second leadoff homer in Brewers postseason history. The other came from Corey Hart against St. Louis in Game 6 of the 2011 National League Championship Series, though the Cardinals still won 12-6 to end the Brewers’ season.

Chourio helped make sure this Brewers season didn't end Wednesday night. He began the eighth inning by connecting on a 1-1 cutter from Phil Maton and sending it 398 feet, well over the wall in right-center.

Chourio is the second-youngest player to homer twice in a postseason game, behind 19-year-old Andruw Jones for Atlanta in the 1996 World Series opener at Yankee Stadium. According to MLB.com, the only rookies to have multiple tying or go-ahead homers in a postseason game are Chourio and Evan Longoria.

Longoria hit two longballs that put Tampa Bay ahead in a 6-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox in Game 1 of a 2008 AL Division Series.

But the only players to hit two tying homers in a postseason game are Chourio and Babe Ruth, who did it for the New York Yankees in Game 4 of the 1928 World Series against the Cardinals.

“There’s a reason why they gave him that $80 million,” Milwaukee pitcher Frankie Montas said. “That dude’s just been unbelievable. This is not the same Jackson everybody saw in the first month of the season.”

The Brewers handed Chourio that eight-year, $82 million contract in December when he was a 19-year-old who had never been in the majors and had played only six games beyond the Double-A level.

Chourio made the Milwaukee roster this spring but struggled early. He was hitting just .206 with a .257 on-base percentage at the end of April.

The Brewers never sent him back to the minors, instead letting him learn in the big leagues. Chourio improved dramatically over the course of the year, hitting .305 with 16 homers and 63 RBIs over his last 97 games.

He ended his rookie year batting .275 with 21 homers, 79 RBIs and 22 steals, becoming the youngest player to complete a season with at least 20 homers and 20 steals.

His rapid progress doesn’t surprise anyone who saw Chourio soar through Milwaukee’s minor league system while establishing himself as one of baseball’s top prospects.

New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was asked about Chourio before Wednesday's game and talked about seeing his enormous potential while watching him in winter ball a couple of years ago.

“I knew we were in trouble,” Mendoza said.

Just a few hours later, that became all too apparent.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Steve Megargee, The Associated Press