Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio is back in the Milwaukee lineup and batting leadoff in Monday’s Game 2 of the NLDS against the Cubs, manager Pat Murphy said. Chourio had to leave Game 1 Saturday due to a right hamstring injury, suffered in the second inning when Chourio legged out an infield hit, his third of the contest.
“If he gets in a situation where he feels it, we’re going to take him out,” Murphy said before the game Monday. “If he gets in a situation where he doesn’t feel like he can do the job, we’re going to take him out.”
On Sunday, Murphy said preliminary testing on the hamstring was inconclusive and the team would further evaluate the situation before determining if Chourio could play in Game 2. Clearly they liked what they found.
“I can’t give you a definitive, but I know that we’re going to test some things today. He’s going to be out there today,” Murphy said Sunday. “I don’t know that he’ll do much, but the MRI came back and it’s inconclusive and it’s not a serious hamstring strain, but it’s not necessarily something that won’t limit him.
“We’re going to kind of see how he feels. He’s going to go through some testing, and if he feels anything, we’re going to shut it down.”
The concern had been a re-aggravation of an injury from the recent past. Chourio missed nearly all of August with a strained right hamstring, going on the IL Aug. 1 and coming off it on Aug. 30.
In the regular season, Chourio hit .270/.308/.463 (112 OPS+) with 35 doubles, four triples, 21 home runs, 78 RBI, 88 runs and 21 steals in the regular season.
Isaac Collins replaced Chourio in left field on Saturday and he’s plenty capable if the need arises. He had a 118 OPS+ and 2.1 WAR in the regular season. Having a player like Collins available to replace an injured Chourio is a testament to the Brewers’ depth.