'I want to win a World Series': As he turns 20, Brewers' Jackson Chourio navigates the weight of lofty expectations

PHOENIX – As the desert sun rose over south central Arizona, creeping above the mountain ranges to the east, something had changed for Jackson Chourio.

No longer was he the Milwaukee Brewers’ teenage phenom.

Chourio turned 20 on Monday, an off-day in Brewers camp. But while Chourio's age changed overnight, going from a teen to his 20s, the expectations placed upon his shoulders did not. They likely will not anytime soon.

After all, never before in franchise history has a player at this age carried the gravitas Chourio does.

From the moment Chourio came stateside in late 2021, he had scouts on backfields in Arizona lining up in droves behind chain-link fences to sneak a glimpse and marvel at how that frame produced that whipping, electric bat speed. To be a scout that fall was to have seen Chourio play. Then once Chourio was promoted to Class A from the complex league, he no longer was the worst-kept secret among the industry and instead became a consensus top-10 prospect in all of baseball by the end of 2022.

So, Chourio’s arrival in Milwaukee always was going to be hyped.

Signing a record extension at 19 years old before making his big-league debut, though, only accelerated the matter.

Chourio doesn’t run from that limelight. He, in a way, actually relishes it.

Yet Chourio also lets on like he's repellent to the weight of what’s expected of him.

“For this year?” Chourio said, wrinkled forehead, as he pondered what his expectations were of himself for 2024.

Make the opening day roster? Hit 20 homers? Steal 20 bags? Win Rookie of the Year?

Chourio smiled.

“Nothing big.”

Jackson Chourio has a teammate who he can relate to

There aren’t very many who can say they have, lace for lace, walked in Chourio’s shoes.

Chourio is on a trajectory to become only the third player under 21 to start in center field on opening day in the last half-century; the others are Ken Griffey Jr. and Andruw Jones.

He is the highest-rated prospect ever to come through the Brewers organization.

And never before has a player come close to receiving the guaranteed money Chourio got ($82 million over eight years) before even stepping on a big-league diamond.

But Chourio doesn’t have to look too far to see an ally. Just a couple of locker stalls down in the spacious spring clubhouse – perhaps an intentional placement by the Brewers – sits Christian Yelich, who understands better than anyone the type of expectations both internal and from the outside that stem from signing a record deal with Milwaukee.

Yelich won the National League’s Most Valuable Player award in 2018, then nearly repeated the following year before a foul ball off his knee in September cost him a likely back-to-back performance. In February 2020, before Chourio had even signed with Milwaukee, Yelich signed a nine-year, $215 million extension, by far the largest contract ever inked by a Brewer.

“As a player, you put the expectations on yourself when you sign a deal,” Yelich said. “For every player, inside you know what you’re capable of doing. You always expect the best out of yourself and you should always have that drive to be the best version of yourself. What that can be, we don’t know. You just keep striving to get the most out of your talent.

“Jackson is obviously plenty talented. There’s some similarities and some differences with the expectations. My deal comes with expectations and the contract. All that was in combination with past performance. Past performance combined with a new deal equals all these very high expectations.”

Because of the difference in what Yelich and Chourio had accomplished when they signed their contracts, the 32-year-old left fielder hopes there is more patience to accept the inevitable struggles Chourio faces.

“For him, hopefully, people understood that he’s a 19, 20-year-old kid who is going to be at some point getting his feet wet in the big leagues for the first time,” Yelich said. “The tools and the talent are for sure there. You just have to go out and rep it out.”

But Yelich also understands the reality. He's lived it.

“Look,” Yelich said, "when he signs a deal like that, there’s expectations. It is what it is. We should all be so fortunate to have that problem, of having to live up to a contract. You acknowledge it and that’s it.”

Yelich preaches the process. Put the work in, give your full effort, be the best version of yourself and you can live with the results, good or bad. This belief is at the center of his training. It’s at the center of how he deals with struggles. And it’s what he will sit down and tell Chourio at some point before opening day.

“As players, you hear all the outside noise,” Yelich said. “You’re going to hear in this day and age. But you just have to be really focused on your process and improving. Jackson should be Jackson. He should be the best version of himself in 2024. Take what he learns from this year because you’re going to learn something – good and bad – and then the key is to apply it to the following year and try to make improvements.”

Why the Brewers believe Chourio can be a star

Baseball scouts often talk about a player’s makeup. How does he handle adversity? What kind of teammate is he? How does he carry himself away from the field? Discerning what, exactly, goes on between a player’s ears is difficult, no doubt. But the Brewers feel confident in what they have in terms of Chourio’s makeup.

Perhaps it’s the blissful ignorance of youth. Perhaps it’s an intentional disregard. Maybe it’s a true indifference.

Whatever it is, those around the Brewers believe Chourio has the innate ability to rise above the weight of expectations.

“This kid has ice in his veins,” outfielder Garrett Mitchell said. “He’ll be okay.”

Brewers manager Pat Murphy puts it a different way.

“I don’t think anyone handles (expectations) seamlessly the right way,” he said. “But I think overall he will handle it just fine because I think he cares more about being good than being rich.”

Chourio’s focus since signing his deal in December, was to challenge himself as best he can and enjoy his first major-league spring training. Aside from some footwear splurges, he’s yet to make the standard singular big post-contract purchase.

Put the whole package together and it can be easy to forget Chourio is just freshly 20 – still an age where the only Miller he’s acquainted with is two lockers down and plays third base for the Brewers.

“This experience has been beautiful,” Chourio said. “It’s my first time being in this clubhouse. It just opens your eyes to what the big leagues are like. It makes you want more.”

For Brewers hitting coach Connor Dawson, Chourio’s contract might as well not exist. The way he sees it, when Chourio steps into the right-handed batter’s box, $82 million is just as likely to help you get a hit as a major-league minimum salary.

“For us, it’s a non-factor,” Dawson said. “We’re not worried about that. We’re worried about what he does in that box.”

Chourio has adopted a similar line of thinking.

“No me preocupes,” Chourio said.

I’m not worried.

“Es bien.”

It’s fine.

“I try to not let it get the best of me,” he finished. “But I know there are going to be expectations.”

Chourio's goal for his career: A World Series

Chourio makes an effort to not allow his mind to jump forward. It’s certainly not something the Brewers want him doing, either.

But every player who makes it this far, at their foundation, has goals; striving, after all, is what got them this far. Chourio is no different. He has visited Milwaukee only three times, yet will be here for a long time to come. He, above all yes, wants to do something that never has been done for the organization and its fans.

“I want to play hard and make sure that the fans are happy and show that I belong here and want to be here,” Chourio said. “Other than that? I want for us to win a championship. I want to win a World Series for Milwaukee.”

Only one franchise, Cleveland, has a longer active World Series drought than the Brewers. Milwaukee hasn’t even made it to the Fall Classic in 42 years. There isn’t an active player on the team who was alive to see Harvey’s Wallbangers.

Those are the odds stacked against the Brewers. They are quite daunting.

Does Chourio believe this team, with him at the crux, can put that all in the past?

“Si. Claro.”

Yes. Of course.

Short and sweet. Just like his swing.

More: 4 observations from spring training that could have a major impact for the Brewers this year

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jackson Chourio handles big expectations after signing record contract