​Do not expect Jackson Chourio to suddenly become a switch hitter, but he did something for the first time on July 7 against the St. Louis Cardinals — he batted from the left side in the Milwaukee Brewers’ 10-2 victory. It brought a touch of levity to a game that had already spiraled out of reach. The Cardinals were using a position player on the mound, with former Milwaukee Milkmen player and Brewers minor-leaguer Bryan Torres finishing the game in the eighth and ninth innings.
Chourio, who didn’t start but had entered as a pinch-hitter in the ninth after going 1-for-2 with an RBI single, lined one up the first baseline off Torres on the first pitch, a soft looper that registered at 34.9 mph. The ball came off Chourio’s bat at 98 mph and traveled about 360 feet, but center fielder Nathan Church tracked it down easily for the final out of the at-bat. “I had fun doing it,” Chourio said afterward, with Brewers game specialist Daniel De Mondesert translating. “One of the most important parts of this game is to just have fun. Thanks to God, it was pretty good contact.” He added that he didn’t think the contact would be as solid as it was, but once he saw the connection, he was pleased with himself.
Torres issued a free pass to Gary Sánchez leading off the ninth, then forced a pair of flyouts from left-handed Chourio, followed by a lineout from Cooper Pratt and a pop-out from Joey Ortiz to end the inning scoreless. The Cardinals went down in order in their half of the ninth against Craig Yoho. “It was something new,” Chourio said. “I tried it, and I had fun with it.”
Chourio also had the chance to witness encouraging early results from fellow Venezuelan Luis Lara, who made his Major League debut and collected his first hit — a two-run single with the bases loaded. Lara finished the game with a single, a walk and a run scored. Notably, Lara, who is eight months younger than Chourio, batted from both sides of the plate as well, though in a more conventional sense given that switch-hitting has been a long-running part of his career.
“Very happy that he’s going to be a teammate of ours for many years to come,” said Chourio, 22, of Lara, who is 21. “Very happy for him, very excited for him.” The moment underscored the Brewers’ broader optimism about their young core and the potential for continued growth as the season progresses.
Todd Rosiak of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this story. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with the headline: Why did Brewers’ Jackson Chourio bat left-handed against Cardinals? for better SEO.