9 days after the top of the World Baseball Basic, greater than three weeks since he was hit by a pitch, and simply hours earlier than his crew’s Opening Day recreation, one other WBC participant landed on the injured record. Jackson Chourio, who served because the common middle fielder for Venezuela’s championship-winning squad and who’s slated to be the beginning left fielder for the Brewers, was positioned on the IL on Thursday morning resulting from a fracture in his left hand.
Chourio, who turned 22 on March 11, was hit on the hand by a heater from Clayton Beeter in Venezuela’s exhibition recreation in opposition to the Nationals on March 4. Preliminary X-rays have been damaging, and he was identified with a contusion. He sat out Venezuela’s first two video games of pool play whereas the Marlins’ Javier Sanoja began in middle area, however Chourio returned to the lineup on March 9, enjoying the remaining two pool video games and the three knockout spherical video games. For the match, he hit simply .200/.278/.200 in 19 plate appearances, although he did barrel just a few balls.
When Chourio returned to the Brewers, in accordance with supervisor Pat Murphy, he underwent a scan of some type — I’d guess a CT scan, which is way faster than an MRI — however it didn’t present a fracture. He continued to play frequently, and even homered off the Padres’ Randy Vásquez on March 21, however after he felt ache in his hand throughout a examine swing in an exhibition in opposition to the Reds on Tuesday, the Brewers despatched him for an MRI, which reportedly revealed a small hairline fracture on the base of his third metacarpal. Whereas the fracture has begun to heal, Murphy mentioned the crew is understandably “frightened that there may very well be additional harm if he doesn’t handle it now.” Thus the IL transfer, which is retroactive to March 25. He’s anticipated to overlook two to 4 weeks.
That is the second yr in a row Chourio has landed on the IL; final yr, he missed a month — mainly all of August — resulting from a proper hamstring pressure suffered whereas legging out a triple on July 29. He wasn’t as productive after returning, although a peek below the hood exhibits that he really hit the ball more durable, solely to undergo some regression:
Jackson Chourio Earlier than and After His 2025 Injured Record Stint
| Break up | PA | BBE | EV | LA | Brl% | HH% | AVG | xBA | SLG | xSLG | wOBA | xwOBA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Via July 29 | 472 | 353 | 88.5 | 11.6 | 8.5% | 40.2% | .276 | .247 | .474 | .419 | .335 | .303 |
| After August 29 | 117 | 82 | 92.8 | 6.2 | 14.6% | 51.2% | .240 | .243 | .413 | .456 | .303 | .320 |
Chourio has 93rd-percentile dash pace; we don’t have month-to-month splits, however the basic statement across the Brewers was that he didn’t stand up to full pace once more till late within the season. The numbers present that he collected simply certainly one of his 16 infield hits and three of his 21 stolen bases after the harm, all in his remaining 4 video games in late September. That, and his reversal from overperforming his anticipated stats earlier than the harm to underperforming afterwards, suggests a reluctance to check the hamstring, costing him some additional bases right here and there. Recall that he reaggravated the harm working out an infield single within the Division Sequence opener in opposition to the Cubs; although it was simply the second inning, it was already his third hit of the sport. With the good thing about an off day, he returned to the lineup the subsequent recreation and homered, and ended up enjoying all 9 of the Brewers’ postseason video games whereas batting .303/.314/.576.
Nonetheless, relative to his rookie season, Chourio’s .270/.308/.463 (111 wRC+) line final yr represented a lack of 19 factors of on-base share, although only a one-point drop in slugging share. His stroll price eroded from 6.8% to five.1% with a extra aggressive method; each his 53.2% swing price and his 36.8% chase price have been round 4 and a half share factors above his 2024 numbers, along with his chase price putting within the eighth percentile amongst qualifiers. His chase charges in opposition to curves and sliders each elevated by about 10 factors relative to 2024, although he was nonetheless very efficient in opposition to the latter, hitting .302 and slugging .615.
You Aren’t a FanGraphs Member
It seems to be such as you aren’t but a FanGraphs Member (or aren’t logged in). We aren’t mad, simply disenchanted.
We get it. You wish to learn this text. However earlier than we allow you to get again to it, we might wish to level out just a few of the great the explanation why you must grow to be a Member.
1. Advert Free viewing! We can’t bug you with this advert, or every other.
2. Limitless articles! Non-Members solely get to learn 10 free articles a month. Members by no means get minimize off.
3. Darkish mode and Basic mode!
4. Customized participant web page dashboards! Select the participant playing cards you need, within the order you need them.
5. One-click information exports! Export our projections and leaderboards in your private initiatives.
6. Take away the pictures on the house web page! (Truthfully, this does not sound so nice to us, however some folks needed it, and we like to offer our Members what they need.)
7. Much more Steamer projections! We’ve got handedness, percentile, and context impartial projections accessible for Members solely.
8. Get FanGraphs Stroll-Off, a personalized yr finish evaluate! Discover out precisely the way you used FanGraphs this yr, and the way that compares to different Members. Do not be a sufferer of FOMO.
9. A weekly mailbag column, solely for Members.
10. Assist help FanGraphs and our total employees! Our Members present us with crucial assets to enhance the location and ship new options!
We hope you will take into account a Membership as we speak, for your self or as a present! And we understand this has been an awfully lengthy gross sales pitch, so we have additionally eliminated all the opposite adverts on this article. We did not wish to overdo it.
Regardless of the missed time, Chourio hit 21 homers and stole 21 bases, and after turning into the youngest participant to go 20/20 as a rookie, he grew to become the youngest participant to do it twice:
Youngest Gamers With 20 HR and 20 SB in a Season
Observe that whereas Pinson and Trout each went 20/20 of their age-20 and age-21 seasons, as properly, they have been about seven months older than Chourio once they completed the feat. Chourio’s efficiency put himself in some super firm, although as you may see by my inclusion of wRC+ and WAR within the desk above, his seasons have been on the decrease finish of that group when it comes to total efficiency. He dropped a full win in worth from 2024 to ’25, from 3.9 WAR to 2.9.
As for 2026, to exchange Chourio on the energetic roster, the Brewers recalled Blake Perkins, a 29-year-old switch-hitter who had been optioned to Triple-A Nashville only a week earlier. Perkins served as Milwaukee’s common middle fielder in 2024, however he missed the primary half of final season after fracturing his proper shin by fouling a ball off it throughout batting apply in late February. Upon returning, he hit .226/.298/.348 (83 wRC+) in 171 plate appearances.
The Brewers have completed a good bit of blending and matching within the outfield in recent times, for platoon functions, to cowl for accidents, and to maintain Christian Yelich within the combine on the times that catcher William Contreras serves as their designated hitter. Chourio’s potential to play all three outfield positions has match properly inside that plan. Final yr, with Perkins and Garrett Mitchell each injured – the latter performed simply 24 video games resulting from an indirect pressure and left shoulder surgical procedure — Chourio performed 89 video games in middle, 40 in left, and 20 in proper. With Mitchell wholesome, the plan coming into this season was to have Chourio spend the majority of his time in left, with the lefty-swinging Mitchell platooning in middle with righty Brandon Lockridge, who beat out Perkins for the ultimate outfield spot, and Sal Frelick in proper area, with lefty-swinging Jake Bauers additionally logging time on the corners along with backing up Andrew Vaughn at first base.
With Chourio out, the 30-year-old Bauers, who hit .235/.353/.399 (114 wRC+) final yr, is the almost definitely candidate to log further enjoying time. The Brewers are significantly keen to seek out at-bats for him following a spring during which he hit an absurd .462/.571/1.154 whereas tying for the foremost league lead in residence runs, with seven — for no matter that’s value. Bauers began in left area in opposition to the White Sox on Opening Day, going 2-for-5 with a three-run homer off Jedixson Paez, a 22-year-old Rule 5 decide making his main league debut.
Chourio isn’t the one participant injured throughout the WBC or its run-up to overlook Opening Day resulting from accidents. The Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki opened the season on the IL after struggling a minor sprain of the posterior collateral ligament in his proper knee throughout the WBC quarterfinals with Japan; technically, he may very well be activated as quickly as April 1, however as of Thursday, his timeline wasn’t clear. The Astros’ Jeremy Peña, who fractured his proper ring finger in a March 4 exhibition whereas enjoying for the Dominican Republic, was not positioned on the IL to begin the season, however he wasn’t within the lineup on Thursday. He’s nonetheless getting his timing again by taking stay at-bats with the crew’s Triple-A Sugar Land affiliate, although basic supervisor Dana Brown mentioned he’s “very shut” to returning to motion.
Hopefully, Chourio’s not removed from returning himself. Nonetheless, hand accidents are pesky issues, and as final yr’s hamstring harm suggests, it could take a while for him to regain full confidence in what he can do as soon as he’s again within the lineup.