As Jackson Chourio approaches his second season, we take a look at how other Brewers performed in their second years
In 2025, Jackson Chourio will enter his second full season in the league. He’s already made waves around baseball with his debut, finishing third in last season’s NL Rookie of the Year vote. That leaves us wondering what Chourio will have in store for his encore in his second season.
To get an early look at that, let’s look back at some modern high-profile Brewers and how they did between their rookie and sophomore seasons. While there are plenty of examples that we can look at, we’ll focus on some of the bigger names in franchise history. These are (for the most part) players that spent their first two seasons with the Brewers. How did they start, and what did they do in their second year? (This will also focus on position players, as there are several more players we could look at if we included pitchers.)
Keston Hiura
2019: .303/.368/.570, 138 OPS+, 19 HR, 49 RBI, 1.9 bWAR in 84 Games
2020: .212/.297/.410, 87 OPS+, 13 HR, 32 RBI, -0.4 bWAR in 59 Games
If you want an example of a top prospect fizzling out quickly, you unfortunately don’t have to go too far back to see it. When Hiura debuted in 2019, he was regarded as the Brewers’ top prospect. It was a good debut season as well. He was a factor right away in the Brewers’ lineup, putting up 19 home runs and an OPS+ of 138 in his first season. The knock against him was his strikeout total, though. He had 107 in his first season across just 84 games.
That strikeout problem never went away, and it got worse as his career went on. In the shortened 2020 season, he led the team in strikeouts with 85 (despite it being a 60-game season). His results continued to drop, with him only recording a 51 OPS+ in 2021 as he bounced between the majors and minors. The Brewers tried moving him to first base in 2022, and he did see an improvement there. He had a positive value again, but barely (0.8 bWAR, 113 OPS+). That wasn’t enough to keep him around, and after he spent the 2023 season completely in the minors, he was granted free agency.
Hiura spent last season between the Tigers and Angels minor league systems and appeared in 10 games with the Angels in 2024. Unfortunately, his major league struggles continued with a -0.6 bWAR in those 10 games.
Orlando Arcia
2016: .219/.273/.358, 66 OPS+, 4 HR, 17 RBI, 0.3 bWAR in 55 Games
2017: .277/.324/.407, 90 OPS+, 15 HR, 53 RBI, 2.3 bWAR in 153 Games
While Hiura was the top prospect in the Brewers’ system at his debut, Arcia was one of the top prospects in all of baseball when he debuted. The growing pains were there in his first year, as the batting line was very weak. However, he was solid on defense and did show enough for the Brewers to give him more time.
His second season was a much better step in the right direction. The batting line jumped, and he maintained a defense that was good enough for some positive value. He posted his highest single-season bWAR total in his sophomore campaign at 2.3. Unfortunately, that’s where it maxed out for him. His next few seasons were filled with struggles as he just couldn’t maintain the hype he had as a prospect. The Brewers finally moved on, trading him to the Braves just a few games into the 2021 season. That was a precursor for what was to come, as just six weeks later the Brewers acquired Willy Adames in a trade with the Rays.
To his credit, Arcia has built a solid career for himself since his time in Milwaukee. Though he’s never lived up to the hype he had as a prospect, he’s been a regular for the Braves in the past few seasons. After spending most of 2021 in the Braves minor league system, he earned his way back onto the major league roster. He even earned himself an All-Star appearance in 2023. He still needs to get through about two and a half more seasons to get to 10 years of service time, but he has a shot to do it.
Jonathan Lucroy
2010: .253/.300/.329, 70 OPS+, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 0.5 bWAR in 75 Games
2011: .265/.313/.391, 90 OPS+, 12 HR, 59 RBI 1.0 bWAR in 136 Games
Lucroy had a good amount of hype built around him coming into his MLB debut, but he needed a little time to get going. His first two seasons were decent, but his third MLB season was where it really got going for him. Even though he played just 96 games in 2012, he posted a 3.3 bWAR with a 132 OPS+ that season. His best season was 2014 when he had a 6.4 bWAR and finished fourth in the NL MVP vote. Over his seven seasons in Milwaukee, he had a 17.3 bWAR, which ranks 22nd in Brewers franchise history.
Lucroy bounced around several teams over his last five seasons and was a part of a few more postseason teams. However, he slowly faded out after that, and his last MLB action came in 2021.
Ryan Braun
2007: .324/.370/.634, 154 OPS+, 34 HR, 97 RBI, 2.0 bWAR in 113 Games
2008: .285/.335/.553, 130 OPS+, 37 HR, 106 RBI, 4.6 bWAR in 151 Games
As a position player, Braun is probably the most recent player for the Brewers who came in with a lot of hype and lived up to every bit of it. In his first season, he came right out of the gates with 34 homers, which earned him Rookie of the Year honors and even some MVP votes. The only knock on Braun in his first season was his defense, where he posted a -32 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) at third base, recording 26 errors.
To alleviate that one weakness, the Brewers moved Braun to the outfield, and the liability was gone. Over the next five seasons, Braun was a star in the league, hitting at least 25 home runs a year. His lowest bWAR over that stretch was in his second season at 4.6. He earned five straight All-Star selections and was in the MVP vote in each of his first six seasons. This led to him earning the NL MVP award in 2011 and finishing second in 2012.
Unfortunately, after the 2012 season, the injuries began to pile up for Braun. In addition to that, his part in the Biogenesis scandal ended up tarnishing his overall reputation. Braun ended up serving a suspension for most of the 2013 season. He did bounce back with two more strong seasons in 2015 (3.3 bWAR) and 2016 (4.3 bWAR) but began to fizzle out after that. Once his contract went into its option years in 2021, the Brewers bought it out. He wouldn’t sign with another team and eventually announced his retirement. He currently sits in third place in Brewers franchise history with a 47.1 bWAR.
Prince Fielder
2005: .288/.306/.456, 97 OPS+, 2 HR, 10 RBI, 0.0 bWAR in 39 Games
2006: .271/.347/.483, 110 OPS+, 28 HR, 81 RBI, -0.7 bWAR in 157 Games
2007: .288/.395/.618, 157 OPS+, 50 HR, 119 RBI, 3.6 bWAR in 158 Games
Though Fielder made his debut in 2005, his official rookie season didn’t come until 2006. While his bat showed up right away, his defense kept his overall value down in his first season. Despite hitting 28 home runs, a -22 DRS really brought down his value. It didn’t stop voters from giving him some votes in that year’s Rookie of the Year vote, where he finished seventh.
That would all change in his second full season. While he still had -15 DRS that year, his bat was so good that it more than made up for it. He posted a career-high 50 home runs that season and earned a third-place finish in that year’s NL MVP vote. While he would not win an MVP as a Brewer, he was a mainstay at first base for the rest of his Brewers career. He would finish with a 16.8 bWAR as a Brewer, putting him 23rd in franchise history.
Fielder played five more seasons in the league, spending two seasons with the Tigers and three with the Rangers. He made it to one World Series in 2012 with the Tigers. However, his career ended in 2016 when a neck injury made it too dangerous for him to play baseball again, and he had to retire early.
Rickie Weeks
2005: .239/.333/.394, 90 OPS+, 13 HR, 42 RBI, 0.1 bWAR in 96 Games
2006: .279/.363/.404, 96 OPS+, 8 HR, 34 RBI, 0.8 bWAR in 95 Games
Weeks was one of the hottest prospects as he came up through the Brewers system. Though he officially debuted in 2003, he only played seven games before not reappearing with the Brewers until 2005. That ended up being his first official season, and it wasn’t anything too special. He was right around replacement level, but still drew a little bit of attention. He actually received a few points in that year’s Rookie of the Year vote as he finished sixth.
Weeks’ second season was a step forward overall. The batting line got better despite a drop in home run total. Over the next few seasons, his value continued to improve. He had a bWAR of at least 1.9 in his next five seasons, and his low point was in 2009, which was mostly lost due to injury. He topped out with a 3.6 bWAR in 2010 and earned his only All-Star Game selection in 2011.
Unfortunately, Weeks dropped off rather quickly after that. He had only one more season with a positive bWAR, and that was a 0.2 bWAR in 2014. When his contract was done after that season, he went on to play a few more seasons with other teams. None of those went well for him, and his playing career finished in 2017. He’s now back in a Brewers’ uniform as the team’s associate manager.
Geoff Jenkins
1998: .229/.288/.385, 76 OPS+, 9 HR, 28 RBI, -0.4 bWAR in 84 Games
1999: .313/.371/.564, 135 OPS+, 21 HR, 82 RBI, 4.6 bWAR in 135 Games
For many years, Geoff Jenkins was a mainstay in the Brewers lineup. His career didn’t start very well, though. In his first season, he worked through many struggles at the plate and had a negative bWAR year. However, the Brewers stuck with him and he bounced back the next season. His 4.6 bWAR in 1999 was second on the team, behind Jeff Cirillo. That was the start of a long career with the Brewers. He was a reliable fixture in the outfield for 10 seasons, posting a career total of 22.1 bWAR. That puts him 12th overall in franchise history.
Unfortunately, Jenkins didn’t get the full level of respect that he deserved while a Brewer. He only made one All-Star team, which was in the 2003 season. He also just missed out on being with the Brewers when they broke their postseason drought, finishing his Brewers tenure in 2007. He did at least earn himself a World Series ring in his career, as his final season in 2008 was with the Phillies, who would go on to win the title.