Brewers prospect Lara following Chourio's advice in Arizona Fall League

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- On an off-day in late April in the High-A Wisconsin schedule, Luis Lara sought out his fellow countryman nearby.

He and Jackson Chourio were Venezuela natives and homegrown Brewers outfielders who had been pushed aggressively through the Milwaukee system, both skipping over the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League entirely to play full-season ball as 18-year-olds. Chourio's ascent rocketed him to the Majors by age 20, and well, you likely know the rest. Lara was making his own way as a 19-year-old in the High-A Midwest League, where he was the fourth-youngest player to begin the season.

The two may have only been separated by a year in age, but sometimes, the distance between Appleton and Milwaukee can feel continental. When you slug just .309 in the season's first month as Lara did, it can seem like light years.

"The biggest thing that he said was to enjoy the game because he also had a slow start to the season," said the Brewers' No. 17 prospect via translator Juan Pena, a trainer with the Padres and the Arizona Fall League's Peoria Javelinas. "When you start enjoying the game, everything falls into place."

The sport certainly became more enjoyable when Lara had a game like he did on Saturday when the switch-hitting outfielder hit his first AFL homer and made a rangy catch in right field to help Peoria beat Mesa, 5-4, in seven innings as part of a tripleheader at Goodyear Ballpark.

The longball came in the fourth inning against Angels left-hander Houston Harding. Batting from the right side, Lara had watched a fastball away and a changeup inside land for balls to give him a 2-0 advantage.

"I was looking for the fastball," he said. "But then I saw it was a changeup coming, and I just reacted to it and made contact. I didn't think it was gone, so I was running hard out of the box. When I saw it clear the wall, I couldn't believe it."

In fact, Lara had sent Harding's 76.1 mph changeup out 388 feet with an exit velocity of 98 mph.

It was only Lara's second extra-base hit through his first eight games with Peoria, but it hasn't been an overall rough start, as he's gone 8-for-31 (.258). His 15.6 percent strikeout rate in the small sample is solid for a player who was sixth-youngest in the AFL on Opening Day.

It's that contact rate that has allowed the Brewers to get aggressive with their $1.1 million signee from January 2022. Lara has yet to strike out more than 16 percent in any of his three professional seasons, and by putting the ball in play, he can use his plus speed to beat out infield grounders and push for doubles on balls in the gaps.

His power, however, remains his biggest question mark.

Lara's .082 isolated slugging percentage was sixth lowest in High-A among the 49 batters with at least 450 plate appearances. A right-hand injury -- suffered during a play on the bases on May 18 -- did him no favors, but he was starting to show some signs of pop late. All four of his homers -- equal to his 2022 and 2023 totals combined -- came from July 6 onward.

Listed at 5-foot-7, Lara has yet to grow into the size for average power, but given his age and accelerated timeline, he isn't sweating his slugging numbers just yet.

"I really focused more on the mental part of the game," he said. "Whenever you move up in levels, the game speeds up on you, so I tried to slow it down."

At this stage in his career, Lara's loudest tools might come on the defensive side, which he also showed on Saturday. In the first inning, AFL and Rays No. 10 prospect Tre' Morgan sent a screamer to the wall in right-center at 102.6 mph. Moving back and to his right, Lara tracked down the ball just before the wall, leaving a stunned Morgan to settle for a sacrifice fly.

Once again, Lara's speed became an asset. Plus arm strength has also eased his move to right field in the AFL, where six of his eight defensive starts have come. Typically, Lara's size and skills have translated to center, but getting exposure to another spot in the six-week Fall League can only help his future versatility.

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It might also put more pressure on Lara to produce offensively, considering the differing standards for value in center versus the corners. He isn't feeling that pressure yet, however, nor should he at this stage of the development cycle.

Chourio may have set an impossibly fast path to follow, but his example as an energetic, toolsy, multi-way contributor can be the gold standard for Lara and others seeking to be future pieces of Milwaukee's homegrown core.

"Whenever I'm playing defense, I try to be the best defensive player we have," Lara said. "Whenever I'm hitting, I'm trying to be the best hitter in the box. I try to keep them apart and just play the game."