Jackson Chourio keeps showing that the biggest moments don’t rattle him, and Sunday’s walk-off hit was another reminder of just how far he’s come in a Milwaukee uniform.
The 22-year-old has built a postseason résumé in a hurry since joining the Brewers in 2024. He homered twice against the Mets in his rookie playoff run, then went deep in each postseason series the Brewers played a year later - a three-run blast against the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS and a leadoff homer in Game 2 of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
That shot against Los Angeles was Milwaukee’s only homer in the series. Then in Game 1 of this year’s NLDS against the San Diego Padres, Chourio launched his third game-tying postseason homer, a two-run shot that moved him into sole possession of the Brewers’ all-time postseason home run record.
He reached that mark in just 14 postseason games, and he’s now only two RBI shy of Andruw Jones’ record for the most postseason RBI before turning 23, despite playing 31 fewer postseason games than the Atlanta Braves legend. But the walk-off against Mason Miller may have been the clearest example yet of Chourio’s growth under pressure.
That at-bat started with a strike, as Chourio offered at an in-zone four-seamer. After that, he showed real discipline.
He let a fastball just off the plate go by, then came up empty on a 102 mph heater right down the middle that left him with no room for error. Miller then tried to get him to chase one away, but Chourio managed to foul it off, with the virtual strike zone showing the pitch was actually in the zone.
The next pitch was the one that really stood out. Chourio held up on Miller’s slider, a pitch that dropped from a strike to a ball below the zone.
Miller came back with another fastball over the plate, and Chourio finally got the one he could handle. He didn’t miss.
Afterward, Jake Bauers put the at-bat in plain terms: "I'm going to remember the slider take with two strikes, after fouling back the 103 mph or whatever it was. I think after that, I was pretty sure that he was going to do something special, you don't see guys take pitches like that very often, and just the confidence you could tell he had in the box was, for lack of better words, it was pretty inspiring."
There was also a social-media angle to the moment, with one viewer pointing to video from behind the plate and suggesting Miller may have been tipping pitches. The clip showed Sal Frelick going to his neck before Chourio took the 1-2 slider. Both teams have since downplayed the idea, and the source material leaves the matter open to interpretation.
Even without that wrinkle, the at-bat says plenty about Chourio. He had been 0-for-3 to that point, including an inning-ending groundout in the seventh that killed a rally with the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position. Instead of carrying that baggage into his final trip, he reset and delivered when Milwaukee needed it most.
Pat Murphy and fans have called him “Jack Jack,” and the nickname fits the way he keeps answering in big spots. Sunday’s hit brought the Brewers within one win of a return trip to the NLCS, with the final two games set for the road. Milwaukee hasn’t won a road playoff game since Game 3 of the 2018 NLCS, when 24-year-old Orlando Arcia homered to help beat the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium.
This time, the Brewers may need another 22-year-old to do the job.
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