Road to The Show™: Guardians’ Chourio

Each week, MiLB.com profiles an elite prospect by chronicling the steps he's taken toward achieving his Major League dream. Here's a look at Guardians’ third-ranked prospect Jaison Chourio. For more stories about players on The Road to The Show, click here.

Jaison Chourio’s skill set doesn’t line up exactly with his brother, Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio. But the Guardians' No. 3 prospect is already making a name for himself at the lower levels.

Jaison is batting .279/.412/.416 with 30 extra-base hits, 56 RBIs, 61 runs scored and 43 stolen bases for Single-A Lynchburg. MLB Pipeline’s No. 83 overall prospect is currently the only player in the Minors with at least 20 doubles and 40 stolen bases.

The 19-year-old has just five homers on the season, but one of his long balls came on the same day that his brother went deep for the Brewers. It was the first time that the Chourios homered on the same day as professionals. They were nearly 700 miles and four levels apart. But it seemed the Chourios were destined to be the next pair of brothers to share a Major League field.

Jackson was the No. 2 overall prospect when he signed an eight-year extension with the Brewers in the offseason. At that point, Jaison had played just nine games of full-season ball with the Hillcats. But, even as an amateur, Jaison displayed an exciting skill set.

The switch-hitting outfielder hits both lefties and righties well and was ranked by MLB Pipeline as the seventh best switch-hitting prospect in the Minors. He’s also adept at controlling the zone and uses an all-fields approach at the plate.

His bat-to-ball skills rank as his best tool, but he also has the speed to be a versatile defender and wreak havoc on the basepaths. Although he might not have the same raw power as his brother, his patience at the plate has been impressive thus far, especially for a player his age.

In 177 professional games since 2022, Chourio has more walks (158) than strikeouts (135).

“He’s so young,” Guardians assistant general manager James Harris told MLB.com this spring. “What’s most impressive is that he doesn’t know he’s young.

“He doesn’t know that he shouldn’t be as confident. He doesn’t know that he shouldn’t be as athletic, as strong. That’s just who he is and that’s who he always has been. So, when he comes in, he eats up the training and he’s standing next to other guys who are two, three, four years older than him and he wants to compete.”

The Chourio brothers were born and raised in Maracaibo, Venezuela. They trained together growing up, and Jaison developed a competitive edge while playing against older competition.

Jackson was the No. 16 prospect in his class when he signed his $1.8 million deal with the Brewers in 2021. While Jaison ranked 20th on MLB Pipeline’s list when he signed his $1.2 million deal with the Guardians the following year.

Chourio received the largest bonus of any Guardians signee that year. Cleveland has been among the best at playing the international market, and five of their current Top 10 prospects were international signees.

He made his professional debut in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League in 2022. Over 40 games, he batted .280 with an .848 OPS, 11 extra-base hits and 28 RBIs. He also walked 40 times and had just 22 strikeouts while recording 14 stolen bases.

Chourio made his debut stateside last year in the Arizona Complex League. He was an All-Star in the Rookie-level circuit, ranking third in OBP (.476) and seventh in average (.349) while collecting 14 extra-base hits and 25 RBIs.

He played the final nine games of the regular season with Lynchburg and struggled at the plate, going 7-for-35 (.200) with more strikeouts (15) than walks (six).

Chourio played offseason ball with Aguilas del Zulia in the Venezuelan Winter League for the second consecutive year. He went hitless in six at-bats in his debut season and again saw little playing time this past offseason. He collected three hits in 11 at-bats while drawing six walks and striking out just once.

He did not play in any Cactus League games with the Guardians, but he did participate in the club’s Spring Breakout game against the Reds, going 1-for-3 with a double and a sacrifice fly while playing all seven innings in left field.

Chourio also started in left field in the All-Star Futures Game at Globe Life Field. He drove in the American League’s only run in the fourth inning, bouncing an RBI single up the middle against Marlins left-hander Thomas White.

Chourio is still quite young, already has impressive range in center field and his power and speed should improve as he naturally matures. The Guardians promoted fellow teenager Ralphy Velasquez to High-A Lake County just this week. It shouldn't be long before Chourio catches up to Velasquez in the Midwest League and his brother in the Majors.