MILWAUKEE – The new scoreboard at American Family Field cost $12-$14 million to install last winter, according to reporting from Milwaukee Magazine. The new outfielder, Jackson Chourio, cost $82 million on a record-setting contract.
One can be replaced. The other cannot.
Chourio’s unforgettable rookie season continued Tuesday when he hit the Brewers’ longest home run of 2024, a two-run shot that sailed a Statcast-projected 449 feet toward center field, where it knocked out a section of the huge LED scoreboard that was installed last winter.
For the rest of the Brewers’ 5-4 loss to the Giants, as the teams went back and forth in a game of home run derby on a steamy night, that black square remained.
“Just imagine in five years, when he gets a little older,” fellow Brewers outfielder Blake Perkins said. “That’s going to be cool.”
It’s cool now, too.
“It’s fun to watch,” Perkins said.
It was a poke for the record books. In the 10 seasons since Statcast debuted in 2015, the only other players to hit a homer that far before their 21st birthdays are Carlos Correa, Fernando Tatis Jr., Ronald Acuña Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Chourio would be happy to follow in those footsteps, and he’s positioned to do so after inking an eight-year, $82 million contract in December that set a record for a player yet to spend a single day in the Major Leagues. After a slow start -- Chourio had a .575 OPS on June 1 -- his .315 average since then is eighth-best among MLB’s qualifying hitters, and his .886 OPS is 17th.
With his homer and a stolen base on Tuesday, Chourio is four home runs and one steal shy of his goal of becoming the youngest player in Major League history to post a 20/20 season.
“Jackson, he’s got lightning hands,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He got pitched tough tonight after that. It’s a great learning experience for a lot of the guys. It’s tough [when the result] doesn’t go your way, but I love the way they competed. If they keep competing like that, it gives us a chance in these types of games against these types of pitchers.”