Should Cooper Pratt Handle The Hot Corner For The 2026 Brewers?

[Harold Hutchison]

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers have a bit of a conundrum at shortstop. The incumbent, Joey Ortiz, is the epitome of good-field, no-hit, to the point where Milwaukee may be better off moving him. Over the long term, talent like Jesus Made, Luis Pena, Juan Baez, Brady Ebel, and Filippo di Turi could also stake a claim to the position. A short-term solution could be to move Brice Turang there, but that would necessitate filling the resulting hole at second base by sliding Caleb Durbin to the keystone.

So where does that leave Cooper Pratt, who is slated for a Milwaukee debut of his own sometime in 2026? The answer may be a move a little further to the left side of the infield, a move that could benefit both him and the Brewers over the long haul.

Third base might seem to be already in good shape, with Durbin proving to be a solid starter at the hot corner, while the Brewers have multiple options (Brock Wilken, Luke Adams, Andrew Fischer, and Mike Boeve) in High-A or higher. However, Pratt may be a better long-term solution than Durbin.

Pratt’s offensive profile fits the approach used by manager Pat Murphy almost perfectly. As the number three prospect in the Brewer Fanatic Top 20, he’s the type of player who should be a franchise cornerstone. In Biloxi, he walked 67 times in 437 at-bats, striking out only 80 times, which should alleviate some concerns about his bat-to-ball and plate discipline from his brief stint in Advanced-A Wisconsin in 2024. His defense has drawn raves, and he has a minor-league Gold Glove.

Pratt’s current offensive profile in some aspects is similar to that of Wade Boggs in the 1990s, a solid performer who hit for a .300 average and got on base to the tune of a 112+ OPS. In addition, the 1990s version of Boggs delivered very good defense (Boggs won a pair of Gold Gloves during that timeframe). Pratt, though, has shown he is a very capable threat on the basepaths, notching 58 steals in 66 attempts.

So, why the hot corner for Pratt, and why 2026? The fact is, Jesus Made is on a Jackson Chourio-esque rocket up the minor-league ladder. Assuming he splits between Double-A Biloxi and Triple-A Nashville in 2026, he’s likely to be Milwaukee’s Opening Day 2027 shortstop. So, moving Pratt to third would help him get accustomed to what could be a long-term home.

As for bringing Pratt up in 2026, much of that can be laid at the feet of Joey Ortiz, whose offensive production plummeted in 2025. The 2024 version of Ortiz would be pretty good for most teams, but Pratt’s offensive floor is higher than what Ortiz provided in 2025, and his ceiling – especially if he taps into his power potential – could propel him to be among the franchise’s best at that position.

Turang could handle shortstop for 2026 and shift back to second base when Made makes his Milwaukee debut, allowing the Brewers to flank the switch-hitting with two Gold Glove-caliber defenders in the infield – proving some outstanding run-prevention over the next few years, especially if they can work out an extension with Turang.

This also allows the Brewers to use 2023 first-round pick Brock Wilken as a potential trade asset to help nail down a position of need in 2026 – or beyond.

The Brewers have been seeking some hot corner stability since trading Aramis Ramirez. Cooper Pratt may well be the solution to that hot problem.

Do you think Cooper Pratt should handle the hot corner in Milwaukee? Let us know in the comments below!

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[wallus]

No

[MattK]

35 minutes ago, wallus said:

No

Ha!

Agreed. 

I think beginning with the fact that Pratt will just be starting in AAA in the spring, and didn't blow folks away in Biloxi in 2025 ... sorta means this would be premature. Give him that half-season/season to see where he is at. 

[sveumrules]

Pratt hit .304 over 364 PA in the ACL and the Carolina League.

He has since hit .235 over 621 PA in the Midwest and Southern League.

1990's Wade Boggs comp (hit for a .300 average seven different times in the decade) might be a little premature, especially considering only seven qualified hitters in all of MLB reached .300 last year.

When Wade Boggs hit .301 over 334 PA as a 41 year old in 1999 there were 55 qualified hitters with at least a .300 average and another 17 if you lowered the threshold to 300 PA.

[wallus]

29 minutes ago, MattK said:

Ha!

Agreed. 

I think beginning with the fact that Pratt will just be starting in AAA in the spring, and didn't blow folks away in Biloxi in 2025 ... sorta means this would be premature. Give him that half-season/season to see where he is at. 

I gave a response worthy of the article 

[wiguy94]

I’m sorry did you just compare Cooper Pratt to Wade Boggs who had a career 132 wRC+ and was a hall of famer?

This article fails to meet the standard set by the writers on this site. 

[Bashopolis]

6 hours ago, wallus said:

No

Agree.  The batting average under .240 at AA just doesn’t scream future Wade Boggs at the moment.  Maybe wait till he gets a good stretch with an OPS over .690 before he gets to mlb.  
 

 

[KingRhyno8]

Yeah, I’m sorry but Pratt has zero chance of seeing the field in Milwaukee in 2026. Wade Boggs? 😂😂

[Lathund]

I'm higher on Pratt than most, and considering the offensive environment in the Southern League I don't consider his 2025 a disappointment at all. I absolutely think he could see playing time, and be useful, in 2026. Probably won't, but absolutely could. 

But the premise of this article is ridiculous. If we have a hole at SS and want to promote Pratt, promote him to play SS. He might be our best defender there. And even if Turang is better, it's not by much. Or rather, not by enough to have THREE players move positions. The reason you would switch things around is to accomodate someone who can't play the position you need to fill. But in this scenario Pratt is a very good SS, Turang is a platinum glove winner at 2B, and Durbin was very good at 3B. Just let them stay there. 

Doing this switcheroo is what you would do if you needed to improve on Joey's bat by promoting a 3B like Adams or Wilken (Or signed Suarez or something). *Then* it makes sense to move Durbin to 2B and Turang to SS. 

This article was unnecessary, at best. I get that not all articles can be hard-hitting analysis, but it should be more than this. This is more of a forum post in a thread discussing the 2026 Brewers infield. 

[Soupy]

All that said, are Pratt and/or Made in line for pre MLB extensions? 

[Brock Beauchamp]

2 hours ago, Soupy said:

All that said, are Pratt and/or Made in line for pre MLB extensions? 

Made, for sure. Pratt, more of a question. Personally, I wouldn't.

[sveumrules]

1 hour ago, Soupy said:

All that said, are Pratt and/or Made in line for pre MLB extensions? 

Pratt's glove is his carrying tool at the moment, and slick fielding doesn't get you quite as much roast beef in Arby's as offensive numbers do, so barring a big uptick in performance this year I'd guess Cooper ends up being a year to year guy.

Definitely an imperfect comparison given differing contextual factors (namely age and offensive environment) but Joey Ortiz hit for a 106 wRC+ over 552 PA at AA versus Pratt hitting for a 107 wRC+ over 527 PA at AA.

Couple advantages working for Cooper are obviously that he was three years younger than Joey was at the time, and he also had better plate discipline at 0.84 BB/K for Pratt versus a 0.49 BB/K for Ortiz.

Those factors combined with his larger frame give him a chance to have more offensive upside down the road, but at the moment I think Cooper reads like the kind of SS that will come in at say like +5 to +10 runs on defense and you hope his wRC+ is in the nineties (prolly more likely eighties though) which shakes out around a couple two tree wins or so.

Best realistic case is probably that he follows something like the Frelick (749 PA of 89 wRC+ from 2023-24 before 594 PA of 114 wRC+ in 2025) or Turang (1,067 PA of 77 wRC+ from 2023-24 before 659 PA of 124 wRC+ in 2025) Three Year Plan.

[OneangryBadger]

If the Brewers plan to keep Cooper around long time term his position will probably be 3b. Do I think he should be put there in spring training no. Like someone posted already the southern league is a tough place to hit and all prospects struggle there to some extent. Plus the Brewers don’t know how fast Made will keep moving thru the last two levels of the minors. It could take 2 years so I would leave Pratt at SS let Ortiz play tell Murphy if he needs to be benched or not. If he does and Pratt is playing well at AAA promote him if not they will need to find a different answer