After Monday’s electric late-night victory, yesterday’s day off for the Milwaukee Brewers and Chicago Cubs felt like an eternity. Reserved for “travel,” the day off between Games 2 and 3 of an NLDS series feels less necessary when the two teams competing are separated by a mere 90 miles.
However, as the Brewers made the trip down to Wrigley Field, no doubt stopping at the world-renowned Mars Cheese Castle on their way, there was at least one benefit to their off-day. Yesterday afternoon, team insider Adam McCalvy of MLB.com dropped a concerning post on the social media platform X, updating Brewers fans on the status of Jackson Chourio’s lingering hamstring injury.
When Brandon Lockridge took over for Jackson Chourio in the ninth inning of Game 2, it wasn’t just precautionary or to get him off his feet for the final three outs.
“He felt it again,” Pat Murphy said.
So, it will be a very light day for Chourio at Wrigley today. Day-to-day.
— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) October 7, 2025
Brewers fans assumed that Brandon Lockridge replacing Chourio in left field for the final three outs of Monday night’s game was simply a way to shore up the outfield defense, a tactic that Pat Murphy used in Game 1, when Lockridge replaced Isaac Collins in left field for the final two frames. However, as McCalvy notes, and supported by the way that Chourio gingerly ran off the field before being pulled from Monday night’s game, the Brewers’ star outfielder is still far from 100%. The day off on Tuesday hopefully gave Chourio another chance to rest up is pesky hamstring.
Keeping the 21-year-old Chourio out of Wednesday’s lineup is a near-impossible task for Pat Murphy, even if he isn’t fully healthy. Chourio has been the team’s best hitter of the last two postseasons, and he is one of two Brewers hitters who matches up very well with the Cubs’ Game 3 starter, Jameson Taillon.
Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich each have impressive career numbers against Chicago’s Game 3 starter
Not only is Chourio already approaching several Brewers postseason franchise records, despite playing in just five playoff games so far, but his career numbers against Taillon suggest that his hot streak will continue this afternoon. Chourio is 7-for-13 against Taillon in his career, with three extra-base hits and just one strikeout. That’s good for a ridiculous slash line of .538/.538/.923, resulting in a 1.461 OPS.
However, Chourio isn’t the only Brewers hitter with gaudy numbers in a large enough sample size against Taillon to draw reasonable conclusions. Christian Yelich, who quietly has four hits in the Brewers’ two postseason games this season, has also fared well against Taillon throughout his career. Dating back to Taillon’s time in Pittsburgh, Yelich has collected 37 at-bats against the Cubs’ right-hander. He has 13 hits in those 37 at-bats, including two homers. The result is a .351/.415/.541 slash line that should continue Brewers fans’ confidence in their former MVP.
It remains to be seen if Pat Murphy will roll out the same lineup that he did in Games 1 and 2. The Brewers faced a left-handed starter in each of those two games, and with Taillon throwing from the right side, there’s a chance Murphy switches things around slightly. However, regardless of the order, so long as Chourio’s hamstring doesn’t keep him from playing in this afternoon’s game (which it likely won’t), you can expect him and Yelich to be among the top four hitters in Murphy’s lineup.
