MILWAUKEE — Though he exited the Brewers’ 9-3 victory in Saturday’s Game 1 of the National League Division Series early after aggravating his right hamstring injury, Jackson Chourio is in the lineup for Game 2 against the Cubs on Monday. Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said Chourio will be back in the leadoff spot and playing left field.
“I’m sure if he gets in a situation where he feels it,” Murphy said, “we’re going to take him out.”
Chourio batted leadoff against Chicago’s left-handed Game 1 starter, Matthew Boyd, and made an immediate impact, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs by the second inning. He departed the game after legging out a run-scoring infield hit in the second.
Chourio did some light baserunning but did not take batting practice or shag fly balls during Sunday’s workout, and that the Brewers didn’t offer a more definitive status report should have come as no surprise. That’s both because of both teams’ desire to keep information from their most familiar rivals, and because of the nature of hamstring injuries.
Chourio, who missed nearly all of August with a strained right hamstring, returned Aug. 30 after completing a Minor League rehabilitation assignment, and he still needed time to regain full speed on the basepaths and in the outfield. That last gear finally appeared to return at the end of the regular season, when Chourio stole a base in three of the Brewers’ final four games to become the youngest player to record multiple seasons of 20-plus home runs and 20-plus steals.
