Chourio not feeling weight of record contract in productive spring

PHOENIX -- Brewers manager Pat Murphy has no doubt that the club's top prospect, Jackson Chourio, will handle the high beams of heightened scrutiny in the wake of his recent long-term contract.

His reasoning?

“He cares more about being good than he does about being rich,” Murphy said.

At 20, Chourio is trending toward both.

Chourio enters the season as the Brewers’ presumed starter in center field and as the No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline, and the front office is all in, having signaled their belief with an eight-year, $82 million contract announced Dec. 4 at the Winter Meetings.

The deal, which included a $2 million signing bonus and a 2024 base salary of $2 million, was the largest given to a player with no Major League experience.

“The truth is, the money is not going to change me,” Chourio said through interpreter Daniel de Mondesert. “If it does change me in any way, it is going to change me for the better. There is a sense of relaxation there for sure. You feel good in having the ability to take care of my family. I don’t feel it as pressure so much as as a blessing.

“Now it is time to show what I am able to do out on the field and to get to work.”

He is on the roster for the Brewers' Spring Breakout game against Kansas City on Sunday.

Chourio showed plenty in 2023.

He is coming off a Minor League season in which he slashed .282/.338/.467 with 22 homers, 43 stolen bases and 91 RBIs at two levels. All but six games were spent at Double-A Biloxi.

Because of that résumé, Chourio could be the most-heralded National League prospect since Atlanta outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., another five-tool player, and the two had scouting grades that are remarkably similar.

Chourio enters the season with an overall scouting grade of 65 on the Major League 20/80 scale, according to MLB Pipeline. Scouts graded his power at 65 and his running ability at 70, both of which are quite a bit above the Major League average.

Acuña’s power was graded a 65, and his running was graded a 70 in 2018. Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez had an overall grade of 60 in 2020.

Chourio has heard the comparisons.

“Obviously you see what they’ve done and the example they’ve set and try to follow in their footsteps,” Chourio said. “I try to follow that example to the best of my ability and create my own path.”

Chourio took a seven-game hitting streak into a Cactus League game against Arizona on Friday that was cancelled because of inclement weather, extending the streak with a ground-ball single the day before.

“[I’m] gaining confidence each day as the days go on and feeling more comfortable by the day,” he said of his spring experience. “Just trying to keep it going. Definitely trying to be a little more patient at the plate. That has helped out.”

He capped a busy offseason by hitting .379 with a .984 OPS for Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League.

“His offensive potential … he has huge upside," Murphy said. "And so does his base running and his mentality. How he handles everything, we’re just watching it happen and trying to encourage him and lead him in the right direction.”

Teammate Christian Yelich understands the outsized expectations that come with a big contract. He signed a seven-year extension worth $188.5 million in 2020, two years after being named NL MVP and the year after he was the MVP runner-up.

His advice: be yourself.

“Obviously everybody else is going to have higher expectations for you, but as a player, you have high expectations for yourself anyway,” Yelich said. “You always hold yourself to a high standard. Whatever anybody else thinks is what they think.”