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With his first swing of the game on Saturday night, Aug. 29, Jackson Chourio joined some impressive company.

The home run that he drove out to right-center field off Cal Quantrill to kick off an eventual 5-3 Milwaukee Brewers victory over the Texas Rangers at American Family Field gave him an even 20 for the season and made him just the 17th player in major-league history to hit that many at least three times before turning 23 years of age.

Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio hits a solo home run in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at American Family Field.

Chourio is the first to do it since Juan Soto from 2018-21, with other current contemporaries such as Carlos Correa (2015-17), Bryce Harper (2012-15), Mike Trout (2012-14) and Giancarlo Stanton (2010-12) also on the list.

Going back even further, luminaries such as Ken Griffey Jr., Orlando Cepeda, Frank Robinson, Al Kaline, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews, Ted Williams and Mel Ott accomplished the feat as well en route to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

“I feel very prideful and very happy to be a part of that group and be mentioned with those names,” said Chourio. “I think all those names are great examples for me to follow moving forward here.

“Just very happy to be in that same group with those guys.”

Chourio, who won’t turn 23 until next March 11, has 26 more games to set a new career high of 22 and needs six more stolen bases to record three straight 20-homer, 20-stolen base seasons to begin his career – both completely achievable milestones with how well he’s been playing of late.

Over his last 11 games, Chourio is batting .362 with a .996 OPS, three homers and seven runs batted in. The three homers have come in his last three games, with a two-homer game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Aug. 27 beginning the binge.

In 26 games in the month of August, Chourio is batting .307 with an OPS of .931, seven homers and 14 RBI.

And it’s no coincidence that over that same span the Brewers have gone on a tear, rising to a season-best 34 games over .500 for a major-league-leading 85-51 record while opening an eight-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central Division standings.

“He’s still learning the game,” said manager Pat Murphy. “I mean, he’s special. His hands go from A to B as quick as anybody. Bat speed and strength, he’s got a great base underneath him. And the great thing is, he comes every day with a smile on his face.

“He doesn’t get too down. He doesn’t critique every swing. He’s special.”

What makes Chourio’s achivement even more impressive is the fact he missed the Brewers’ first 33 games of the season with a fractured left hand suffered March 4 while playing for Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.

With 55 RBI through 101 games he won’t come close to besting his previous career high of 79 set in his rookie season of 2024. But his .281 average and .820 OPS are currently personal high-water marks, and there’s a shot he could steal eight more bases to set a new high in that category as well.

Chourio got off to a slow start in May, had a scorching month of June by hitting .319 with 10 homers, 25 RBI and an OPS of 1.013 over 27 games before crashing back to earth in July with a .229/1/9/.588 line in 26 games.

“The truth is, the beginning was a little bit hard,” Chourio said, referencing his late start to the season. “But happy and blessed that I’ve been able to stay healthy since then and put my piece in and my piece forward to help my team win, and we’ve been able to do a lot of that.”

Chourio is 15 strikeouts away from setting a new high – no great shame in today’s game where slug and damage reign supreme – but he’s done so once in his last three games, three times in his last five and not struck out more than twice in a game since July 31.

“I think I’m in a good spot whenever I’m feeling a little bit more patient at the plate, getting better pitches to hit,” he said. “Usually that leads to being able to create damage.”

Chourio’s 20th homer came on the same night the Brewers handed out Chourio bowls to fans, a wink and a nod to the similarity his last name shares with Cheerios cereal.

But he dropped a bombshell on reporters when asked about the honor after the game.

“I haven’t been gifted one,” he said. “Do you think maybe I could get one?”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers’ Jackson Chourio joins exclusive list with third 20-homer season

Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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