How did Jackson Churio catch fire in his rookie season?

Last MLB season saw its fair share of breakout stars like Oakland’s Mason Miller, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes and Houston’s Ronel Blanco, but one player who introduced himself to the league in a big way flies under many people’s radar. . That player is Milwaukee’s Jackson Churio. Churio is a 20-year-old Venezuelan player ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect by the list. MLB.comtrailing only Jackson Holiday of the Baltimore Orioles. Signed by the Brewers as a 16-year-old, Churio has been under the watchful eye of MLB scouts throughout his career. Just 2 years after he was signed, Churio was promoted to the Brewers’ Double-A affiliate Biloxi. In another year, he reached the Triple-A level, and in just one year, he made Milwaukee’s Opening Day roster this season. However, even with his meteoric rise, Churio did not see immediate success at the game’s highest level.

In his 85 games through the first half of the season, Churio had a xwOBA of just .287 with 70 strikeouts in those games. This terrible record of offensive production led the Brewers to debate sending him back to Triple-A. A big reason for his lackluster performance was his plate discipline. Churio threw pitches out of the zone 38.1% of the time, missing 51.1% of those pitches. In the zone, Churio was swinging at 70.1% of pitches, but couldn’t consistently make solid contact, with a hard-hit rate of just 36.9%. This lack of discipline, coupled with its lack of compensatory strength, was the biggest hole in Churio’s game. Many teams find value in players who hit above average, but balance it with higher production, something Churio was unable to find in the first half of the season.

However, things changed for Churio after the All Star Break. Churio was able to lower his Chase% by 12.4%, which helped him walk almost as much as he did in the first half of his season in 22 fewer games. Cutting back on his pursuits also got him more pitches in the zone, which resulted in 4.6% more hard-hit balls. Overall, Churio was able to increase his xwOBA to .401, which was close to the best in the league.

So how did Churio become the leader in offensive production almost overnight? Churio completely changed his approach at the plate. Churio swung the bat at 74 mph in the first half of the season, which dropped to 72.5 mph in the second half. 1.5 mph slower may seem like a lot, but when talking about bat speed, that drop in speed means the bat is in the zone much longer, allowing the barrel to find the ball more often. Churio also lengthened his swing, further allowing him to keep the barrel in the zone longer to create more consistent contact, which he lacked before the All-Star break. Churio also improved his approach at the plate, which allowed him to see more pitches and therefore get better pitches to hit. In the first half of the season, Churio skated 57.4% of the time when ahead in the score and 44.8% behind when ahead. This allowed pitchers to get back into the bats and prevented Churio from earning the walks and better pitches in the strike zone. However, in the second half, he skated just 40.3% of the time and chased down 33.3% of the time. This improvement in his ability to take control of the bat undoubtedly led to the increase in production that Churio saw. Everyone knows that Churio has the tools to be a great player, but they weren’t put on display until he earned the respect of pitchers who had to throw strikes to him when he shortened his belt extension.

The incredibly quick turnaround of Chourio’s season not only speaks to the quality of the Brewers organization, but also shows how incredible a prospect Chourio has. His ability to completely change the way he approached bats quickly is a very rare talent and certainly shows that he deserves the hype. A full season of Chourio at his best will be something to look forward to next season, and with him only 20 years old and signed to a huge contract through 2033, the Brewers could find someone they can count on. years to come.