Jackson Chourio: Brewers 2023 Minor League Player Of The Year
The hype surrounding 19-year-old center fielder Jackson Chourio as he entered the 2023 season was tremendous.
But he lived up to it—and then some—in a standout campaign at Double-A Biloxi.
“Like every player early on, he had some struggles,” said Eduardo Brizuela, Brewers vice president and special assistant to the general manager/baseball operations. “But after that, he was able to figure it out and become the player that we all thought he was going to be.
“I’ve been extremely proud of the way he’s handled expectations. We just saw a 19-year-old kid playing in Double-A and being very good at it.”
As the youngest player at that level for much of the season, Chourio started slowly by hitting .249 with 11 home runs before the Futures Game.
After working closely with Biloxi hitting coach Chuckie Caufield, Chourio made some adjustments while also reaping the benefits of the Southern League going away from the pre-tacked baseballs it had been using.
Chourio’s play ramped up from there. At the end of August he became the first teenager at the upper levels to record a 20-homer, 20-stolen base season since Delmon Young in 2005.
A week later, Chourio stole his 40th base to become just the fourth teenager to go 20-40 in the past 60 seasons. The last to do so was fellow Venezuelan Ronald Acuña Jr. in 2017.
Chourio hit .280/.336/.467 with 22 homers and 43 steals in 122 games for Biloxi and earned a late bump to Triple-A Nashville to close out the season.
Chourio also played a terrific center field, living up to the minor league Gold Glove he earned in 2022.
“Being able to make adjustments, it almost puts the candle on the cake,” Brizuela said. “Beyond the numbers, it’s just being a competitor.
“This is a kid that we’re talking about his age, but when you watch him on the field, he looked like he belonged there—and he was better than everybody else.
“That’s very impressive.”
MICROBREWS
— With Double-A Biloxi battling it out with Montgomery for the affiliate’s first Southern League playoff berth since 2019, the Brewers sent a pair of high-profile prospects to the Shuckers: 2023 first-round third baseman Brock Wilken and 2022 first-round shortstop Eric Brown Jr.
Wilken wasted no time making an impact by belting a grand slam for his first Double-A hit. He collected a hit in his first two games for Biloxi after a 34-game warmup at High-A Wisconsin.
Brown battled injuries for much of the season at Wisconsin, where he hit .265 with four homers in 63 games.
— Righthander Jacob Misiorowski was shut down after his Aug. 15 start due to arm fatigue. He will take part in instructional league, Brizuela said.
“Nothing worse than (fatigue),” Brizuela said. “This is a guy going through his first full professional season. He’s getting ready for instructional league down in Arizona, and we hope to see him pitch there.”
Misiorowski, who turned heads with 11 triple-digit fastballs in his inning at the Futures Game, finished with a 3.41 ERA and 1.18 WHIP to go along with 110 strikeouts in 71.1 innings over 20 starts split between Low-A Carolina, Wisconsin and Biloxi.
