MILWAUKEE (AP) 鈥� The Milwaukee Brewers are opening their NL Central title defense without outfielder Jackson Chourio after he fractured his left hand during the preseason.
was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to Wednesday. In the move announced hours before Milwaukee’s season-opening over the Chicago White Sox, the Brewers estimated Chourio will miss two to four weeks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 rough, for sure,鈥� Chourio said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert. 鈥淵ou want to be out there with them. … I鈥檒l be out here supporting them as I always am. It鈥檚 a long season. I鈥檓 looking forward to being back soon with them and getting to play a big part of it.鈥�
Chourio’s absence represents a major blow for Milwaukee’s lineup as the Brewers chase their fourth straight division championship. The 22-year-old recorded at least 20 homers and 20 steals in each of his first two major league seasons.
鈥淗e鈥檚 got a slight fracture in there, a hairline fracture,鈥� Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 address it, it could lead to something really serious, especially with the constant swinging and things like that.鈥�
The injury first arose March 4 when Chourio got hit by a pitch from Washington’s Clayton Beeter while playing for Venezuela鈥檚 World Baseball Classic team in an exhibition game with the Nationals at West Palm Beach, Florida.
Chourio missed Venezuela’s first two World Baseball Classic games but returned to the lineup and helped his home country win the title. But after Chourio said a check swing this week in exhibition games with the Cincinnati Reds in Milwaukee 鈥渇elt a little bit bothersome,鈥� an MRI revealed a small hairline fracture at the base of the third metacarpal.
鈥淗e said he felt fine (after the March 4 incident), they scanned it there, and no fracture,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淗e came back here, scanned it in Arizona and (it showed) no fracture. Then it kept giving him problems, they went in there and did an MRI and they could see things, I guess, that the scans can鈥檛 see.鈥�
Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold was asked if there’s a possibility the fracture had occurred in that March 4 game.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unclear,” Arnold said. 鈥淚t could have been. It didn鈥檛 show up on any X-rays, so he was trying to play through it and was a little bit sore,鈥� Arnold said. 鈥淚t could have been one of those things, and it just gets a little aggravated against the Reds and showed up on that image.鈥�
Arnold also was asked whether he would have preferred to shut Chourio down after the March 4 incident rather than allowing him to play the World Baseball Classic.
鈥淎ny time you have guys in those types of situations, you always worry about it when they go play for somebody else,鈥� Arnold said. 鈥淚t’s certainly a possibility that a guy gets hurt. But it’s also a great event for the league. I really enjoyed obviously at the end of the series there with Venezuela and the United States. We were watching the game obviously with our scouting group 鈥� Venezuelan guys in the room and Dominican guys. It was a really fun event. I think it’s a great event for Major League Baseball.鈥�
Chourio is coming off a 2025 season in which he batted .270 with a .308 on-base percentage, 21 homers, 78 RBIs and 21 steals in 131 games. The Brewers signed Chourio in December 2023 to an eight-year, $82 million contract, which represented the most money guaranteed to a player with no major league experience.
He has batted .341 with a 1.044 OPS, four homers and 11 RBIs in 12 career games.
Outfielder Blake Perkins, who had been expected to start the season in the minors, will fill Chourio’s spot on the roster. Perkins, 29, hit .226 with a .298 on-base percentage, three homers, 19 RBIs and seven steals in 54 games with Milwaukee last season.
鈥淚’m just grateful for the opportunity,鈥� Perkins said. 鈥淥bviously things can change really quickly. I’m not happy obviously with why I’m here, but like in the past, I’ll do the best I can to fill my role and be a good teammate and be a winning ballplayer.鈥�
Jake Bauers filled Chourio’s usual spot in left field Tuesday and went 2 for 5 with a three-run homer. Bauers, who also can play first base, hit .235 with a .353 on-base percentage, seven homers, 28 RBIs and eight steals in 85 games last season.
The 30-year-old Bauers is coming off a preseason in which he went 18 of 39 with seven homers.
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