Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio made a strong major league debut on Friday, leaving the Brewers eager to see what he might be able to do for an encore.
Meanwhile, the season opener for the New York Mets left them knowing there is nowhere to go but up.
The Brewers will look to lock up a series win Saturday afternoon when they visit the Mets in the middle game of a three-game set.
Left-hander DL Hall (3-0. 3.26 ERA in 2023) is slated to start for the Brewers against right-hander Luis Severino (4-8, 6.65 in 2023) in a battle of pitchers debuting for new clubs.
The Brewers earned a 3-1 win in Opening Day action for both teams on Friday afternoon, when Freddy Peralta and three relievers combined on a one-hitter and Chourio was impressive in all facets of the game in his first big league appearance.
Chourio, who signed the richest contract ever for a player with no major league experience when he agreed to an eight-year deal worth $82 million in December, made more history by stepping into the batter’s box as the Brewers’ leadoff hitter on Friday.
At 20 years and 18 days of age, Chourio became the youngest player to lead off in his major league debut on Opening Day since Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr, who was 19 years and 13 days old when he joined the Boston Red Sox in 1937.
Chourio drew a four-pitch walk from Jose Quintana — who made his major league debut in 2012, when Chourio was 8 years old — and promptly stole second. He singled during the Brewers’ go-ahead rally in the fifth and produced Milwaukee’s final RBI by easily legging out the back end of a potential double-play ball in the seventh.
Chourio became the youngest player to collect an RBI and a stolen base in his debut since the RBI became a statistic in 1920.
The native of Venezuela also made a nice play in right field in the bottom of the seventh, when he ranged back and made a leaping grab at the warning track to rob Starling Marte of a likely RBI extra-base hit.
“Maybe I was worried that we threw him into the fire too quick, leading off against a veteran,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “I’m just really proud of the kid and happy for his family and anyone that was here to see him that he really showed well — defensively, offensively, baserunning. That was pretty cool.”
The Mets were left to dig for more restrained adjectives after they became just the fifth team since 1961 to be one-hit on Opening Day. Marte homered with one out in the second for the lone hit. The next batter, DJ Stewart, walked before being picked off by catcher William Contreras, after which Peralta retired the final 13 batters he faced.
Francisco Lindor, who walked leading off the seventh, was the only other baserunner for the Mets, who ranked among the bottom five in the NL in both runs (717) and batting average (.238) last season.
“Just one of those days,” New York cleanup hitter Jeff McNeil said. “Wish we swung the bat a little bit better.”
Hall, who was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles along with infielder Joey Ortiz for former NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes on Feb. 1, will make his second major league start Saturday. He also has logged 28 relief appearances but has never opposed the Mets.
Severino signed a one-year, $13 million deal as a free agent Dec. 1 after spending his first eight major league seasons with the New York Yankees. He is 0-0 with a 4.09 ERA in two career starts against the Brewers, whom he faced last Sept. 8 in his final appearance of the season. He gave up two runs over four-plus innings in Milwaukee’s 8-2 win.
–Field Level Media
