ST. LOUIS – With two of his boppers back in the lineup, Pat Murphy was finally willing to admit it. Or at least admit part of it.
“When you never go deep for that many games in a major league season, you’re putting a lot of pressure on your defense and pitching,” the Milwaukee Brewers manager said May 4 from his office at Busch Stadium. “We’ve done a great job of creating runs on our own, somehow. We’ve all seen that.
“But you got to slug a little bit, too.”
That final sentence is not a line you’ll always hear around the Brewers clubhouse, which prides itself on being able to grind opponents down with small ball and scoring in myriad ways. Pressure and relentless carry weight for the players that make up the Brewers offense, which gives them meaning when the games begin. They’ve shown they’re able to make that type of offense work about as well as it can, as well.
The reality, though, is walks, stolen bases and bloopers have their ceiling. Death by a thousand cuts is effective in achieving its end goal, but it’s not necessarily as efficient as a blunt instrument.
You got to slug a little bit, too.
The Brewers, of course, have done that. Not even the “little bit” part of the sentence. Entering the series opener in St. Louis on May 4 – a 6-3 loss to the Cardinals – the Brewers were second-to-last in the majors in home runs. Their isolated slugging percentage was .113, also second-worst. Their slugging percentage was third-worst.
That’s why Monday’s game at Busch Stadium felt like a potential line of demarcation in the season. Murphy could now pencil in Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn, two hitters who hopefully can add some thump, into his lineups.
“On an individual basis and as a team basis, it was really hard putting together lineups for that night knowing that we’re deficient in certain areas,” Murphy admitted. “… In our game, one player can make a difference.”
That player? Chourio.
The impact of the 22-year-old outfielder was felt immediately in his season debut against the Cardinals after recovering from a fractured finger on his left hand, even if the rest of the offense around him couldn’t deliver the big hit until it was too late.
Five plate appearances. Five teams on base. Four hits. Four balls over 100 mph. Two doubles.
A reminder that, yes, the Brewers (18-16) have another hitter who can change games with his desire to smash baseballs.
“He knows when the lights are on,” Murphy said. “It was a fabulous effort. Five great at-bats. We obviously just didn’t get the big hit for him.”
When asked after the game what he adds to an offense whose identity is laboring out at-bats, putting runners on base and trying to work the pitcher to a pulp via constant pressure, Chourio responded by saying he brings “the same thing as the rest of the group brings.”
“I’m just here trying to do my part in that,” he said.
That’s a nice, team-first quote from Chourio. It’s also not true.
Chourio already has four base hits at 102 mph or greater exit velocity. The only players on the Brewers with more this year are Jake Bauers, Brice Turang, William Contreras, Garrett Mitchell and Gary Sanchez. He has double the number of Sal Frelick and David Hamilton, and four times as many as Luis Rengifo. He did this in one game.
“It’s an extremely talented group,” Chourio said. “Right now, maybe things aren’t necessarily going the way we want them to but with the talent in the room we’re comfortable it’s going to.”
The results were not quite there in the same vein for Vaughn, who also made a return after not having played since opening day. It’s also worth noting that Vaughn, unlike Chourio, is recovering from hamate bone surgery, a process that has been known to zap hitters’ power at times.
Vaughn stated he feels he will be back to full strength in the near future, a sentiment Murphy echoed.
“I don’t think it will affect his power in the long run,” Murphy said. “But he’s a hitter first.”
The Brewers will need that. They, after all, got to slug a little bit, too.
“Hopefully this gives us a little boost and people can see light at the end of the tunnel,” Murphy said.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jackson Chourio brings much-needed power to the Brewers. Will it be enough?
Reporting by Curt Hogg, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
