The Jackson 2

Notes:  This piece is only looking at position players – no pitchers are being considered for the various lists and ranks. All stats and ranks are through games played on September 10.

Cast back to Wednesday, October 22, 2003:  Game 4 of the World Series.  It’s the bottom of the first inning, no score, a Marlin stands on first base with two outs and 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera steps to the dish to face the legendary Roger Clemens.  The Yankees right-hander opens with a fastball high and tight.  His adversary, Cabrera, is not intimidated at all; if anything, the rookie looks miffed, directing an extra-long stare back toward the mound.  A couple of swings make it a 1-2 count. Cabrera then takes for ball two, and then fouls off a pair.   The seventh pitch of the at-bat, a high fastball out over the plate, is met with a wallop as Cabrera drives it opposite field for a streaking two-run homer.  A legend is born.

During that 2003 postseason, amid a galaxy of established stars lighting up the box scores, Cabrera sparkled throughout the DS and LCS, batting .318 with five extra-base hits and nine RBI – he was, seemingly, a burgeoning headliner.  Still, it’s that Game 4 brushback and responsive homer that sticks in the memory as one of the indelible moments of the Marlins’ march toward the trophy, as one of those sit-up-and-take-notice flashes that reverberate long after the occurrence.  Part of it was the moment itself, part of it came from Cabrera being so young, so new to the big leagues; the whole of it was that Cabrera had connected to that breathtaking narrative of baseball wunderkinds taking a bat in their hands and commanding the spotlight on baseball’s biggest stage.

Teenage Andruw Jones’ two home runs in Game 1 of the 1996 World Series; 21-year-old Édgar Rentería’s walk-off single to conclude the 1997 Fall Classic; 20-year-old Mickey Mantle slashing .345/.406/.655 in October of 1952; Ronald Acuña, Jr. (21) and Juan Soto (20, turning 21) in 2019, combining to  hit .313 and slug .627 across 22 postseason contests.  

When Cabrera was demolishing Clemens’ pitch, Jackson Chourio was five months shy of being born and Jackson Merrill had yet to celebrate his first birthday.  Two decades later, the two rookies appear to be just a few weeks away from having the opportunity to affix their own signatures to the postseason baseball annals.  From what they’ve showcased so far, they’ll be ready when the moment beckons. 

Chourio – the Brewers’ corner outfielder – made his MLB debut on March 29 this year and with a walk, steal, single and RBI, started contributing from the get-go.  The 20-year-old has compiled a 3.6 bWAR, good enough to represent the third-highest figure on a Milwaukee club leading the NL Central by eight-and-a-half games.  For fun, let’s start here:  with his next round-tripper, he’ll become the third player ever to post a 20-homer, 20-steal season in an age-20 or younger campaign, joining the Reds’ Vada Pinson in 1959 and the Angels’ Mike Trout in 2012.  

There’s material for the analytically inclined, too.  With that 3.6, Chourio – by far – owns the highest mark for any Brewer ever in an age-20 or younger season, eclipsing the 1.5 tallied by Hall of Famer Robin Yount in 1974.  Add in lack of experience and historically, Chourio continues to stand out.  For all first-year players in AL/NL history who were in an age-20 or younger season, Chourio and his 3.6 bWAR tie for the 10th best, maybe within reach of the 3.9 displayed for Arky Vaughan in 1932 and Ronald Acuña, Jr. in 2018. 

While Chourio may have an edge on his fellow first-year Jackson (Merrill) when it comes to age, the Padres center fielder has bragging rights when it comes to bWAR, holding onto a 3.8.  It’s been a season of spectacular for the 21-year-old as he’s led San Diego to the top spot in the NL Wildcard race.  

Like Chourio, we’ll open with a pair of fun facts, (here, exclusively homer-related). Merrill is the youngest Padre ever to bang out two game-ending dingers in a season.  With his 23 bombs, he’s tied with Mickey Mantle for the seventh-most ever for a center fielder in his age-21 or younger season.  On the advanced side, his 3.8 bWAR takes third place for all Padres in debut seasons, behind Roberto Alomar’s 4.4 in 1988 and Fernando Tatis, Jr.’s 4.2 in 2019.  Merrill’s 3.8 ties him for the 18th-best value for any player in AL/NL history who was in his first season and handling things while in an age-21 or younger expedition.

It’s rare to see a newcomer in an age-21 or younger campaign produce as much value as Chourio or Merrill.  It’d happened only 22 times before 2024 and only one season saw multiple players from the same league do it (Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa in the AL in 2015).  There’s a budding excitement about the idea of perhaps seeing Chourio and Merrill face off on the same diamond, each pursuing that moment or series that could thrust them into the company of those neophytes, like Miguel Cabrera, who shrugged off lack of age and experience to wow and thrill in pursuit of a World Series crown.

Thanks to Baseball Reference and its extraordinary research database, Stathead, for help in assembling this piece.