yahoo
As the final out was recorded, gloves soared into the air, players rushed to the infield, and a jubilant celebration erupted among the Brewers and the thousands of fans who had flocked to Tropicana Field. It was a moment that brought out the kid in everyone.
And why not? The Brewers had just captured the first World Series championship in franchise history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 on Wednesday night to secure the 2026 title in five games. What made the victory even more remarkable was that it was fueled by youth.
William Contreras, at 28 years old, was a deserving MVP for his contributions with both bat and glove. But the Brewers' championship roster, built with a payroll in the bottom half of the league, also featured a trio of young stars: starting pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (24), left fielder Jackson Chourio (22), and shortstop Cooper Pratt (22), all of whom played key roles in the World Series.
Misiorowski's Blazing Fastball
Misiorowski, the flamethrower, is the favorite to win this year's NL Cy Young Award after a regular season in which he went 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA and 252 strikeouts. But he is best known for one thing: bringing the heat. He set an MLB record for most 100-plus mph pitches in a single game (57) in May and became the first pitcher in MLB history to throw more than 1,000 pitches at 100-plus mph in a single season.
In Game 1 of the World Series, he set the record for the fastest pitch in Fall Classic history with his first throw of the night, clocked at 103.5 mph. For the game, he threw 38 pitches at 100-plus mph, the most in a World Series contest. "He's come a long way since last year where he was a young kid with a lot of ability and natural talent," Brewers captain Christian Yelich said. "Anybody could see that looking at the radar gun and kind of what he could do, but I think he's come a long way, like learning himself as a pitcher and learning how to pitch, and he's still learning in a lot of ways. But he's matured a lot, he's gotten to know himself a lot, he's gotten confident, and he continues to get better."
Misiorowski also became one of only two pitchers age 24 or younger to start Game 1 of the Division Series, LCS, and World Series in the same postseason. He picked up the World Series-clinching win in Game 5, throwing 5 scoreless innings and allowing just a couple of hits.
Chourio's Historic Postseason
Like Misiorowski, Chourio had a standout regular season, setting career highs in batting average (.291), runs (96), hits (152), home runs (25), walks (47), and stolen bases (23). He also became the third player in major league history to begin his career with at least three straight 20-20 seasons.
During the World Series, Chourio's name was constantly mentioned alongside the game's greats. In Game 3, he became the second-youngest player under the age of 23 with at least four hits and a stolen base in a World Series game; Ty Cobb is the youngest, having done so in 1908. In Game 4, Chourio had two hits, bringing his total to 10 hits in four games, tying a mark set by Babe Ruth in the 1928 World Series.
"Ty Cobb! Babe Ruth! 1908! 1928! I get numb to it because I get to see it every day and get to hit with him every day," Brewers right fielder Sal Frelick said after Chourio's Game 3 performance. "So when I go out there and see nights like this that he has, I wouldn't say that's what we expect of him, but it kind of is. No one's surprised at that, just because of how fortunate we are to have him on our team."
Brewers manager Pat Murphy said what stood out to him from that game wasn't the four hits, but Chourio's final at-bat in the seventh inning, when the Brewers were up 10-0. "I don't think you guys talk about what happened last night," Murphy said the next day. "It's a record, it's the only other player to ever do this. I look at Jack, like four good at-bats and he was really ticked off that he got called for the checked swing. The bottom line is, that mentality to have that fifth at-bat even though we were leading by 10 runs, to mean just as much as the other at-bats, that tells you something."
Pratt's Rookie Breakout
Entering the World Series, Pratt was one of the lesser-known players on the Brewers, known more for his steady defense at shortstop than his bat. But in the World Series, Pratt's bat came alive. In Game 4, he hit a game-tying double in the fourth inning and a go-ahead homer in the 12th, marking the first World Series home run by a rookie. That was part of a hit parade that carried over to Game 5, where he set a rookie record with six consecutive hits, second-best overall in World Series history.
"I hadn't seen him play a whole lot until he got called up, just a few times in spring training," Yelich said of Pratt before Game 5. "Everyone was talking about his glove coming up, but he can really hit. He's got some really good at-bats, and he got some big hits during the season for us, and postseason obviously." With his two RBIs in Game 5, Pratt brought his total to seven, tying the record for the most by a rookie in a World Series. All this from a player who had three home runs and 34 RBIs in the regular season.
The Brewers had been a model of success before this season, reaching the postseason in eight of the last nine years. The World Series was the final piece for a franchise that had built its roster through smart drafting and international signings. Misiorowski and Pratt were draft picks, while Chourio was an international free agent signing. If the front office can continue to identify young talent like its World Series star trio, the Brewers won't be going away from the postseason anytime soon.
Originally reported by yahoo.