The Milwaukee Brewers decided that the future star on the left side of the infield, Cooper Pratt, is ready for the show.
According to Adam McCalvy, Brewers’ beat writer for MLB.com, Pratt will be summoned from Triple-A Nashville on Tuesday to make his much-anticipated MLB debut. The team has not yet announced a corresponding move to even the roster.
Now Pratt will be given the chance to prove his worth to Milwaukee. The 21-year-old started slowly this season for the Sounds. In May, his numbers were not impressive when he was slashing .205/.338/.308 with a .646 OPS after 31 games played on the season.
In the 27 games since, Pratt has been on a heater. His stats now stand at .241/.349/.386 with a .735 OPS, six homers, 32 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases before his promotion. In his last 30 games, he improved his batting average from .202 on May 8 to .241.
Pratt, the Brewers’ fourth-rated prospect, has been the object of much discussion lately regarding when his inevitable promotion would take place. Now that it has, here is what Milwaukee fans should know about the team member.
Similar to when the Brewers locked up Jackson Chourio and, most recently, Luis Lara, Milwaukee signed Pratt to a long-term deal before playing an inning for the big club. In April, Pratt reportedly signed an eight-year contract worth just beyond $50 million with two club options for at least an additional $15 million per season. It also comes with a spot on the 40-man roster.
At the time of the signing, the Brewers’ manager, Pat Murphy, was thrilled with the decision to lock Pratt up for the rest of the decade and beyond.
“More than his baseball ability is just who Cooper is as a person,” Murphy said in a statement. “I think Brewers fans will fall in love with him. He is a remarkable kid who has great baseball acumen and comes from a baseball family.”
Before the 2024 season, Chourio signed an eight-year, $82 million contract while still a teenager, meaning Milwaukee has him under wraps through the 2030 season. Lara, the Brewers fifth-rated prospect, inked a seven-year, $31 million pact last week, and he has enjoyed a breakout 2026 season at Nashville.
Chourio has proven to be worth the financial risk as he continues to mature and evolve as a bona fide big-league star. Lara is raking in Triple-A, boasting a slash line of 338/.450/.498 as of last week, and is thought to be on the fast track to Milwaukee.
The main question is: With the Brewers rolling and holding a five-game lead in the National League Central, should they fix something that is not broken? Looking at the current state of Milwaukee’s left side of the infield, the timing of this move may be perfect.
While no official announcement on who will vacate a roster spot in favor of Pratt has been made, the odds-on choice is Luis Rengifo. Signed in the off-season to a one-year, $3.5 million deal to play for the Brewers, Rengifo has not been the everyday answer at third base. He is hitting just .205 with no home runs this season. To make matters worse, Rengifo was attended to by team medical staff members twice during Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia Phillies and could be in need of time off.
No matter where Murphy intends to play Pratt, whether at shortstop or third base, he knows he has an elite defender entering his clubhouse. Coaches throughout the organization have raved about Pratt’s glove, to the point that anything he gives at the plate is a bonus.
“You’re talking about a 21-year-old with upside, and if the bat clicks, he’s going to be a monster,” said Brewers Major League field coordinator Nestor Corredor. “In my humble opinion, if he hits .250 with 15 homers in the big leagues with that defense, it’s worth it.”
Third base coach Matt Erickson compared his fielding ability to one of the Brewers’ most accomplished defenders,
“What I know from working with him as a defender is he has as repeatable mechanics and is as trustworthy as anybody we have in the organization,” said Erickson. “Joey Ortiz is a hell of a defender, right? And if there’s anybody out there who I would say is close to Joey right now within our organization, it’s [Pratt], for sure.”
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Rengifo, Ortiz, and David Hamilton have ably manned the shortstop and third base positions most of the season thus far, but their batting numbers are not impressive. Ortiz is only hitting .207 with one homer, while Hamilton is the hottest of the three, checking in at .231.
As Corredor stated, any production Milwaukee gets from Pratt at the plate is gravy, and his work at Nashville has been steadily on the rise since the beginning of May. Why not give the kid a chance? Roster moves lately have come up roses under the watchful eye of general manager Matt Arnold, and he has given Brewers fans no reason to doubt his judgment now.
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