Brewers surround Chourio with 'loving up' during rough patch

MILWAUKEE -- It was May 28 against the Cubs. In the sixth inning with the Brewers down a run, Chicago catcher Miguel Amaya hit a fly ball to shallow left field that was catchable for an outfielder with 20-year-old Jackson Chourio’s instincts and speed. But despite all the confidence he exuded while charging to the top of prospect charts, and the talent that landed him an industry-record-setting contract and made him the youngest player on an Opening Day roster, Chourio wasn’t feeling sure of himself.

The ball dropped.

Between innings, Brewers pitcher Freddy Peralta delivered a wake-up call.

“I told him, ‘What the [bleep] are you doing?’” Peralta said. “It was too much pressure for him. I told him, ‘Forget about everyone. You already signed the deal. What that means is no matter what you do, you are going to get paid, you are going to get service time. Just play.’”

It was a rare public example of what has happened behind closed doors. Chourio, learning a language and a league with everyone watching, has been surrounded and supported by a quartet that includes Peralta, shortstop Willy Adames, catcher William Contreras and coach Nestor Corredor. Judging by the way Chourio has picked himself up since a rough month of May, their mentorship is making a difference.

“Them ‘loving up’ on me has given me some more confidence,” Chourio said through Brewers translator Daniel de Mondesert. “That’s the biggest thing.”

Here’s the story of how it came together.

Brewers manager Pat Murphy: “Once we gave him the contract, it made no sense not to keep him on the team. We just traded Corbin Burnes. Devin [Williams] was out. [Wade] Miley and [Brandon] Woodruff were out. It was the perfect opportunity. And we knew that Willy Adames, William Contreras, Freddy and Nestor being a huge part of this, that could give him a nice guiding force.”

Corredor: “For me it started in winter ball because I was his manager [with Aguilas del Zulia in Chourio’s hometown of Maracaibo, Venezuela]. I started to prepare him, like, ‘This is the big leagues now. Start thinking about being a big leaguer.’ I used examples like Willy Adames and William Contreras as players who could help him lay the foundation.”

Contreras: “When I was his age, it was my brother [Willson]. That was the best person to help me. But no matter who it is, everybody needs somebody.”

Adames: “Carlos Gomez was the guy who helped me a lot when I was in Tampa Bay. [For Chourio] we talked about trying to keep him in line, just not let the kid get frustrated. Because that’s when you go in the hole and it’s tough to get out.”

Peralta: “I can’t give him a lot of hitting advice because I’m not a hitter, but sometimes I can give him some tips when I see how a pitcher faces him in his first at-bat or two. I say, ‘Hey, be ready for this.’ If he has two strikeouts and a flyout or something like this, I’ll say, ‘Hey you have one more AB. Don’t forget.’ Or I’ll tell him things we should do in the offseason to be ready for next year. Stretch more, throw more, build the arm.”

Contreras: “The goal was to help him relieve some of the pressure. It’s not so much the pressure of the contract, pressure comes when people start talking bad about your game. That gets to you.”

Corredor: “In Spring Training, everything was new, and everything was overwhelming. It’s no secret that he didn’t have a good Spring Training and he didn’t have a good first month or two. He’s a talented kid, and all his life to that point was according to his talent. The big leagues are different.”

Chourio picked up his first career hit, his first career stolen base and his first career RBI on Opening Day against the Mets. He hit his first home run on April 3 against the Twins and had a .787 OPS through his first 10 games. Then, the league began to adjust. He batted .187 over his next 40 games through the end of May.

After one of those tough games in late May, Chourio was particularly despondent. His support group gathered at their lockers, which happen to be lined up together on one side of the Brewers’ clubhouse in this order: Peralta, Adames, Andruw Monasterio, Chourio, Contreras.

Adames: “I felt like he was about to fall off that cliff, but we’re not going to let that happen because we know how that feels. I mean, I struggled last year the whole year. You don’t want to be miserable like that, especially at 20 years old. You’re a kid. … It was the right moment to talk to him. He let his feelings out.”

Contreras: “We talked about everything. We talked about life outside of the field, life with his family. It was on a day he was very frustrated and very emotional about it. We asked, ‘Hey, where is this pressure coming from?’ We were trying to get to the root of it.”

Peralta: “He had people around him trying to make him change some things. I remember one of the things I told him is, ‘Forget about everybody.’”

Adames: “Sometimes you just get overwhelmed. Like, say when you have a lot of people in your house. You want to relax and you have people on top of you saying, ‘You have to do this, you have to do that, you’re not doing this.’ That pressure never lets you breathe. In 2021, I sent my parents home in the first month. I said, ‘I need to be by myself.’ They knew it wasn’t because I don’t love them. I needed to reset myself.”

Chourio: “Of course I remember that conversation. They mentioned that it’s part of the game to go through tough times and you just have to keep going. So, I stayed calm. I stayed relaxed. I think I always knew that my moment was going to come. Their support was a reminder of that.”

Adames: “Since then, Chourio has been amazing. The numbers speak for themselves.”

In 45 games in June and July, Chourio soared to a .316/.363/.523 slash line – leading the Brewers in OPS over that stretch. It included an inside-the-park home run in Anaheim on June 26 and his first career grand slam on June 28 against the Cubs. On Aug. 8 in Atlanta, Chourio became the youngest player in Milwaukee’s Major League history to hit two homers in a game. He supplanted the Milwaukee Braves’ Hank Aaron.

Contreras: "All the credit to Jackson, he was open-minded to all of the suggestions and followed all of the advice. Thanks to God, we are seeing the results now.”

Peralta: “I think he’s going to be a very nice player. He’s going to learn more about how to prepare. How to get stronger. He’s fast already, and he’s going to learn better how to run the bases. The hard parts, he’s got. Imagine when he gets stronger and he gets smarter, how he’ll play the game.”

Adames: “It’s not going to be the last time he struggles, but the sky’s the limit for him. He’s going to be in the big leagues for 20 years if he keeps his body in shape.”

Corredor: “It’s no secret that the Latino players on this team are a real family. We go to a city and they meet in a hotel room and they talk about life like you’re talking to your brothers. Everything changed after COVID. Instead of going out, they meet together in someone’s room. They order food, they talk, they play video games, play dominoes and cards. One time, Willy has the biggest room so they meet in his room. Next time, Freddy. Sometimes Gary Sánchez. Now, we have Frankie Montas as part of the group.”

Murphy: “If it wasn’t for those guys, it would have been way rougher waters for Jackson. And other people talked to him, too. I know [Christian] Yelich talked to him. You can’t help but like the guy because he’s such a wonderful dude. And his attitude has been incredible. It’s no surprise to anyone that he’s turned the corner – and there’s still a long way to go.”

Chourio: “They’ve treated me incredibly and I’m very appreciative that they’ve taken me in. Them having that confidence in me, it means a lot.”