Brewers top prospect Jackson Chourio was awe-struck in visit to his future home ballpark
The smile on Jackson Chourio’s face as he craned his neck to look around American Family Field for the first time ever said it all.
There was no doubt the 18-year-old phenom and top prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers organization was picturing a day in the not-too-distant future when he would be back. And he wouldn’t be donning a long-sleeve, jeans and pink-and-black Jordans on that future trip.
“This is the first time I’ve seen it,” said Chourio after watching batting practice prior to Monday’s game between the Brewers and Pittsburgh Pirates. He drove down for the day from Appleton with Class High A Wisconsin teammate Antonio Pinero. "It's incredible."
Chourio, who chatted up Brewers players including Christian Yelich, Willy Adames, Brent Suter and Garrett Mitchell, has become a household name as far as minor-league prospects go this season. A member of the Brewers’ 2021 international free-agent signing class, Chourio has skyrocketed prospect rankings as high as to being named Baseball American’s No. 2 prospect.
After beginning the year in the Arizona Complex League, Chourio has jumped to High A after a stop with Class A Carolina. Across those three levels, he is batting .311/.363/.575 with 17 homers and 27 doubles in 83 games.
“This has obviously been the best year of my career and I just got to find a way to finish year,” Chourio said through Brewers translator Carlos Brizuela.
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Chourio returned to the Timber Rattlers lineup Sunday after an 11-day absence with an elbow injury. Fittingly, he homered. More importantly, there aren’t any lingering concerns for Chourio, who said the injury stemmed from “wear and tear” and he was back to 100%.
There is a real possibility that Chourio could be up with the Brewers in 2024. He would be just 20 years old for the entirety of that season, but playing against older competition is nothing new for Chourio, who is the youngest player in High A.
Nobody has loftier aspirations for Chourio than he does, but until that call comes, Chourio said he’s continuing to keep his focus on where his feet are.
“You don’t really think about when or getting here,” Chourio said. “You focus on what you got to do, get your work in, put the numbers up there and when it happens, it’s gonna happen.”
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers top prospect Jackson Chourio visits American Family Field
