It is the beginning of a new era of Milwaukee Brewers baseball. Craig Counsell, the winningest manager in franchise history who led the Brewers to the postseason in five of the past six seasons, ditched the team and his hometown to manage the Chicago Cubs. Pat Murphy was promoted from bench coach to manager to take his place, and former Brewers All-Star Rickie Weeks was hired as associate manager.
Additionally, Milwaukee is continuing its movement of bringing their next crop of top prospects up to the Majors, and relying on them to win games. This started last season with Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Joey Wiemer, and Sal Frelick all getting substantial playing time on the Big League roster.
That movement will continue this year, particularly in the starting rotation. With Corbin Burnes traded and the recently re-signed Brandon Woodruff likely out for the year, Milwaukee is going to rely on some of their young prospects to fill in the backend of their rotation at some point or another, or maybe even all season long.
But the biggest name coming up this year is that of stud outfielder Jackson Chourio, who signed an eight-year $82 million contract this offseason. Incentives and option years could push the deal to a 10-year $142 million one. Those big numbers bring with them big expectations, but Christian Yelich has some wise words for fans as Chourio prepares for his first Major League season.
Milwaukee Brewers Outfielder Christian Yelich on Jackson Chourio: “Just Let Him Play”
If there is anyone on the Brewers’ roster who knows anything about high expectations, it is Yelich. The two-time All-Star won the National League MVP Award in his first season in Milwaukee and followed that up with a 44-home run season and second place finish in MVP voting the following season.
However, that 44-home run season ended early when he fouled a ball of his knee and broke his knee cap. After that, Yelich struggled at the plate for years. It wasn’t until last season that he started to look like his former self, and even then he was nowhere close to the 2018-19 version of himself.
So when asked about what he thinks Chouio will do in the Majors this year, Yelich had a very interesting response (from Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)
Christian Yelich with a very interesting take on Brewers rookie phenom Jackson Chourio: pic.twitter.com/bk7CrVQwSp
— Todd Rosiak (@Todd_Rosiak) February 19, 2024
“He’s obviously very talented for the organization to make a commitment like that. He’s got a very bright future ahead of him. We just got to let him play.
“Gotta let him play, let him be a kid, let him be a rookie in the Big Leagues, you know? Obviously, when you sign a contract like that, there’s expectations and everything that comes along with that.
“But at the same time, let him play. Part of it, you know, there can be growing pains in the Big Leagues. There’s going to be really bright moments, there’s going to be everything in between.
“You just gotta let him be a kid, let him get his feet wet. Obviously, the sky is the limit with his talent. But I say we should just be patient with him and just let him play. You don’t want to put that crazy pressure or expectation on him right away because he’s a 20 year old kid.”
Older, retired athletes often say the most important thing for a rookie player in any sport to do is “find their vet.” That is, find a veteran who will look out for them and teach them how to handle everything that comes with being a professional athlete.
It looks like Chourio might have found his.
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