If the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Championship Series and then -- yes, we’re getting ahead of things, but Brewers fans are allowed to dream -- win the World Series, Jackson Chourio’s at-bat in Game 2 of the NLDS will go down in Milwaukee lore.
Facing the San Diego Padres and Mason Miller, the majors’ most unhittable relief pitcher this season, with the bases loaded, two outs and the Brewers trailing 3-2, Chourio roped a line drive up the middle, scoring two runs and delivering the exhilarating walk-off victory in Milwaukee.
Sure, Miller was not at best: He had walked the bases loaded, was in his second inning of work, was possibly tipping his pitches and, as we’d learn the next day, his wife was about to go into labor. But it was still a great sequence of clutch October hitting by Chourio.
Miller got ahead in the count 1-2. During the regular season, batters hit .066 against him with two strikes. Chourio fouled off a 103.5 mph fastball, a pitch low and away on the outside corner. He took a slider below the zone. Miller’s sixth pitch was a 101.3 mph fastball, not quite as fast and not as well-located. Chourio ripped the base hit at 109.5 mph, the second-hardest batted ball of the game. It was the third walk-off playoff win in Brewers history.
That undersells the drama.
There have been 174 walk-off events in MLB postseason history, including 152 walk-off hits. Only 15 came with the team trailing. Only 10 of those came with two outs. Only five of those 10 came with two strikes on the batter.
Chourio delivering in the big moment while being this young is no longer a surprise. The 22-year-old is hitting .300/.333/.600 with five home runs and 17 RBIs in 16 career playoff games. Against the Padres, his two-run home run in the third inning of Game 1 -- an absolute missile hit at 113 mph -- tied the score as the Brewers went on to win 3-2. Chourio had the historic walk-off hit in Game 2, allowing his team to head to Petco Park, where the Padres were 51-30 at home in the regular season, with a two-game lead. He had a sac fly in Game 3 that tied the score. His RBI single in the clinching Game 4 put the Brewers ahead 2-1. He has driven in six of the Brewers’ 13 runs in the playoffs.
Chourio’s postseason success, which includes a two-homer game in the 2024 wild-card series to keep the Brewers alive in Game 2 and back-to-back three-RBI games against the Chicago Cubs in last year’s NLDS, ranks among the best so far for a young player.
Check out some of the leaderboards:
Most postseason RBIs through age 22 season
Carlos Correa: 18
Jackson Chourio: 17
Andruw Jones: 17
Highest OPS through age 22 (min. 40 PAs)
Jimmie Foxx: 1.069
Jackson Chourio: .933
Gleyber Torres: .928
Most home runs through age 22
Evan Longoria: 6
Juan Soto: 5
It’s probably not a surprise that most of the great young postseason players tend to be great players in the regular season -- or were on their way to great careers. The expanded playoffs tilt the leaderboard lists to players from the past 30 years, but Chourio is already tied for 10th with 18 hits. Among those 12 players are two Hall of Famers in Andruw Jones and Derek Jeter; a future Hall of Famer in Miguel Cabrera; and two likely Hall of Famers in Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. And other good players in Correa, Ronald Acuna Jr., Cody Bellinger and Corbin Carroll. The all-time leader in hits through 22 is Elvis Andrus, who still finished with 34 career WAR and over 2,000 hits. Just missing the top 10 are Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle.
This is obviously impressive company and speaks, perhaps, to an even brighter future for Chourio. His list on Baseball-Reference of most similar players through age 22, however, isn’t full of Hall of Famers: Jones, who was just elected last year on the strength of his defense, is the only one. Others are mostly from the Hall of Very Good: Justin Upton, Ruben Sierra, Jason Heyward, Greg Luzinski, Jack Clark, Jose Canseco.
That list is based mostly on offensive stats and position. Some of those guys aren’t really like Chourio: Luzinski and Clark were plodders, although they developed into top sluggers. The young Canseco could run but quickly lost his speed. Chourio has speed and defensive skills that that trio lacked, and we’ll see if he grows into more power.
In career WAR through age 22, Chourio’s total of 10.9 ranks tied for 54th. That might not seem impressive, but it is. Sixty position players have compiled at least 10 WAR through their age-22 season -- 30 of them are Hall of Famers, with several more on the way. That would seem to give Chourio a 50% chance of making the Hall of Fame, if he follows the same trajectory.
Of course, he hasn’t put up numbers like a young Mike Trout or a young Ted Williams, but even when focusing on a more similar range of players to Chourio, who had between 8 and 13 WAR though age 22, that list of 64 produces 20 Hall of Famers -- plus Barry Bonds, Cabrera, Lindor and Mookie Betts, among others. That still suggests strong Hall of Fame potential for Chourio.
We’re getting ahead of ourselves again. Chourio still has room to grow at the plate. He had his best season in 2026, although that was obscured a bit because he didn’t play his first game until May 4. He still hit .291 with 25 home runs and produced a third straight 20/20 season. Though Chourio’s batting earns him the October highlights, his all-around play -- he’s a superb left fielder who would be playing center on a lot of teams -- creates a lot of added value and increases his WAR.
For now, he’s locked in. He’s the guy the Brewers want at the plate. If they are going to beat the Dodgers, there is little doubt Chourio will be in the middle of the winning moments.