Brewers' Matt Arnold Talks Injury of Young Star

The Milwaukee Brewers made a dominant statement to begin the 2026 season with a 14-2 Opening Day victory over the Chicago White Sox , but the news that preceded the game gave cause for concern. Jackson Chourio, a young up-and-coming star outfielder for Milwaukee, had suffered a fractured left hand that compelled him to the 10-day Injured List. Before Thursday’s game, president of baseball operations Matt Arnold spoke with the media about Chourio’s injury.

“Yeah, a little tough,” Arnold said. “Obviously, you know, he got hit in the WBC, and was dealing with a little bit of pain there, and then it showed up on a check swing the other day and was pretty meaningful. “So, we got another image on it, and it looks like it's fractured very slightly,” Arnold added.

“But it's something we want to be really cautious with because of how much he means to our team. ” Chourio was struck by a pitch in the afflicted hand by Clayton Beeter of the Washington Nationals during a March 4 exhibition game in the World Baseball Classic. Chourio walked off the injury and took first base, which initially indicated that the injury was not as serious as it looked.

However, further discomfort continued and became more pronounced when Chourio took a check swing in a recent exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds. That led to an MRI, which displayed a small hairline fracture of the third metacarpal according to ESPN’s Buster Olney. “Obviously, a tough blow for us; a tough blow for the kid because he's such a good person,” Arnold said.