MILWAUKEE -- The MRI scan of Jackson Chourio’s reaggravated right hamstring was “inconclusive” following the Brewers’ victory over the Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Division Series on Saturday afternoon, manager Pat Murphy said, and the second-year star’s availability for Game 2 on Monday night is likely to remain a mystery well into the runup for the 8:08 p.m. CT scheduled first pitch.
Chourio did some light baserunning but did not take batting practice or shag fly balls during Sunday’s workout, and that the Brewers didn’t offer a more definitive status report should have come as no surprise. That’s both because of both teams’ desire to keep information from their most familiar rivals, and because of the nature of hamstring injuries.
What does a coach look for in a light running session like the one Chourio went through?
“The adrenaline is nowhere near what it is in a game, so it’s more the fluidity of his strides, how comfortable he looks, if there’s any tentativeness when he runs,” said Brewers first base coach Julio Borbon, Milwaukee’s baserunning guru. “I think there’s some hesitancy at times when a guy is coming from something he’s previously had. I look more for that than how fast he’s running.
“Some of the things he’s describing, we’re trying to feel it out. From my understanding, it isn’t anything significant, but it’s probably a combination of what’s in his head -- and I had it. I know how it felt.”
Borbon played for the Rangers, Cubs and Orioles during a 12-year pro career, and he was encouraged by the fact Chourio was about to give it a go just 24 hours later. Chourio missed most of August with a strained right hamstring after originally suffering the injury legging out a triple on July 29 against the Cubs at American Family Field.
Chourio returned Aug. 30 after completing a Minor League rehabilitation assignment, and he still needed time to regain full speed on the basepaths and in the outfield. That last gear finally appeared to return at the end of the regular season, when Chourio stole a base in three of the Brewers’ final four games to become the youngest player to record multiple seasons of 20-plus home runs and 20-plus steals.
“I think that plays into it, definitely,” Murphy said. “You never know how much. Jackson is a super tough kid and he's a great competitor. But when you've never been injured before and you're 20-something years old, and then all of a sudden you have a major injury and then you miss a month, then you come back and you kind of are fighting through, ‘Am I really 100 percent healthy?’ type thing. And trusting people around you and all that kind of stuff, I think that comes into play.
“Then you feel it again, ‘Oh, God. I think that's probably in there.’ But how we could measure that, I don't know. Although, let's get the R&D [research and development] team on it. They measure everything else.”
Borbon knows the feeling.
“I’ve had the hamstring injury, and I wouldn’t have been running at all,” Borbon said. “I know this kid is special and unique in many ways, so maybe he can do some things most people won’t. I’m pretty sure that speed he did there -- whether that’s 60, 70, 80 percent -- is better than some people that are going down the line. That’s where the fine line is: Is this something we’re able to push him on?”
That decision belongs with Chourio, the Brewers’ medical staff, Murphy and GM Matt Arnold prior to Game 2, when Milwaukee will face another Cubs lefty, Shota Imanaga. Chourio batted leadoff against Chicago’s left-handed Game 1 starter, Matthew Boyd, and made an immediate impact, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs by the second inning, and departing the game after legging out a run-scoring infield hit in the second.
Isaac Collins took over for Chourio and would handle left-field duties if Chourio misses time, Murphy said.
In the bigger picture, Murphy said the good news is that the MRI did not reveal a glaring injury. And Borbon pointed out that the schedule of this series could not be any better; the Cubs-Brewers Game 1 was the first of the four Division Series games on Saturday’s docket, and it is the last Game 2 on the docket Monday night. Then there’s another off-day on Tuesday as the series shifts to Chicago, which could be yet another factor in what the Brewers decide to do.
“We definitely need a healthy Chourio, as we are all well aware,” Borbon said. “This is going to be an important decision in the next 24 hours. It really is a tricky one. It’s a big, big, big void to fill if we have to go in a different direction.”