ST. LOUIS – As expected, first baseman Andrew Vaughn rejoined the Milwaukee Brewers on May 4 at Busch Stadium. The unknown heading into the team’s three-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals, though, was whether outfielder Jackson Chourio would join him.
The news is in: Chourio’s back.
While the plan all along was for both power bats to return May 4, Chourio’s status came into question after fouling a ball off his foot/ankle in his final rehab appearance at Class AAA Nashville on May 2.
“It hurt, for sure,” Chourio said. “It hurt right away. I knew after that it wasn’t going to be anything that was going to put me out for a long period of time or anything. But it hurt.”
Chourio departed that game after the injury occurred, but X-rays were negative. He was seen going through a series of running and lateral agility drills with Brewers training staff in the outfield at Busch Stadium before officially being activated.
“It was a close call because he’s still very sore,” manager Pat Murphy said. “Certain balls you foul off your foot or your ankle don’t give you that same type of pain. Where he was hit, he was very sore. He’s chomping at the bit to go.”
Outfielder Blake Perkins was optioned to Nashville and Greg Jones was designated for assignment to clear space on the roster.
Vaughn, who fractured the hamate bone in his left hand on opening day, appeared in three games at Nashville last week and had 12 plate appearances. He returned right in line with his initial estimate of four to six weeks after undergoing surgery.
With the hamate bone removed, the Brewers don’t expect Vaughn to lose any power in the long run, while the first baseman himself indicated the biggest hurdle to clear is as simple as trusting his swing again.
“They took the bone out,” he said. “It’s not there, nothing else can happen to it. Once that strength is built up, just get back in there and swing it.”
For Chourio, avoiding a serious injury was a major positive after already going on the injured list because of one bad break. The 22-year-old suffered a hairline fracture in his left hand during an exhibition for the World Baseball Classic on March 4. Initially reported as merely a bruise, that injury didn’t fully come to light until the eve of opening day, when further imaging revealed that Chourio had structural damage in his middle finger.
He’s adding some padding at the plate now after how the past couple months have transpired.
“I think we’re going to start using the full protection now,” he said. “I had taken off the toe piece but I think we’re going to go ahead and use all of it.”
The Brewers initially listed Chourio’s timeline to return at two to four weeks. Returning May 4 put it just short of a six-week absence.
Now that he’s back, it’s not a moment too soon for an offense that needs the pop.
Chourio and Vaughn are significant additions for an offense that ranks second to last in the major leagues with 22 home runs and has hit only four over its previous 17 games.
“Hopefully this gives us a little boost and people can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Murphy said.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers activate Andrew Vaughn, Jackson Chourio from injured list
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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