Cooper Pratt Won't Be Close to a Finished Product This Year, and That's Okay

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

It's best to keep expectations for Cooper Pratt in his debut season a bit muted. That's not a knock on his abilities or physical ceiling, but a reminder that a player's development is rarely complete when he reaches the big leagues. There's maturation—both physical and mental—that can only take place at the game's highest level. That's especially true for Pratt, who is just 21 years old and playing in his third full professional season.

It might be tempting to think that as one of the Brewers' top prospects (including Brewer Fanatic's No. 4), Pratt could transform the left side of the infield from anemic to dynamic by replacing Luis Rengifo and Joey Ortiz. In reality, the left side will probably remain the weakest portion of the lineup. Pratt helps by raising the floor there. He can be a well-below-average hitter and still exceed the combined 58 wRC+ of Rengifo and Ortiz. He'll be a better defensive shortstop than David Hamilton, and Hamilton and Ortiz will field better at third base than Rengifo.

"The pieces fit easily," Pat Murphy said ahead of Pratt's debut on Tuesday, also noting that the realigned infield would allow for more days off for Brice Turang, who has appeared in 67 of Milwaukee's first 71 games.

Murphy similarly sees Pratt's impact this year as more about floor than ceiling. He has a solid foundation as a player that will make the Brewers better right now. Murphy praised his defense and baseball IQ in spring training, and has done so again multiple times in the two days since Pratt's promotion. However, the whole coaching staff knows they won't see the best version of him until later, after continued development at the big-league level.

"He's not going to come into his power until later on in his career, in my opinion, but I think right now we can expect him to be an on-base guy, a guy that can do some things offensively for us," Murphy said.

For now, that's the best approach for Pratt to have. At 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds, he's prompted scouts to dream about the potential power in his build, but it hasn't yet developed at this stage of his career. In Triple-A Nashville this year, his 34.6% hard-hit rate and 84.4-mph average exit velocity were well below average. The current version of Pratt won't be productive if he hits the ball in the air, so maximizing his high contact rate makes much more sense. That means seeing the ball deep to make good swing decisions, with a focus on hitting low line drives and using the opposite field.

The Brewers are nearing the tail end of a similar development process with Pratt's new double-play partner. After struggling early, Brice Turang minimized his swing to become an on-base-oriented hitter. Paired with his defense, that was enough to make him a solid player. Since he established that base, a stronger, more mature Turang has eased back into a longer, steeper swing and unlocked more in-game power.

"With Brice, you didn't know for sure he could be this as a hitter," Murphy said. "But by his second time around, you could just see it, like, 'This guy's ready to go, he's ready to take off.' And then it doesn't always happen on your terms, because the game deals you what the game deals you. But I think it's the same way with Cooper."

Pratt's at-bats in his first two games have reflected the on-base approach. He went hitless in his debut, hitting two of his three groundouts to the right side of the infield. On Wednesday, the first two hits of his career (a ground-ball single and a line-drive, RBI base hit) were both to right field.

"He'll tell you it was predicted by some great swami that his first hit would be between the three and four hole," Murphy joked postgame.

"I was afraid he was going to dive or something and throw me out," Pratt said. "Once I saw it go through, I was like, 'Oh, yeah.' I heard the crowd, and it was sick."

Pratt's baserunning, which drew positive reviews in the minor leagues as part of his high-IQ makeup, was tested quickly. After advancing on a sacrifice bunt by David Hamilton, Christian Yelich lined a base hit just over the head of Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio. Pratt read it well and got a good jump, allowing him to score from second base.

"I knew once [Yelich] hit it, it was over his head," he said, "so I just freaking ran as hard as I could."

After his second hit, Pratt stole his first career base. Despite not having great speed, he swiped 27 bases in 2024 and 31 last season due to his awareness.

Two days in, Murphy continues to see the little things that led him to believe Pratt can be a meaningful player this year, even if he only scratches the surface of his long-term potential.

"He had two great at-bats where he stayed in the zone and didn't try to do too much," Murphy said. "Really proud of him."

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[ChapelHeel66]

One of the best things about this site (which is new to me), is that unlike social media accounts, there is a lot of honesty in the articles about player limitations.  That is, you can love the players but also critique them without trashing them.  Good job.

[Stealofhome]

20 minutes ago, ChapelHeel66 said:

One of the best things about this site (which is new to me), is that unlike social media accounts, there is a lot of honesty in the articles about player limitations.  That is, you can love the players but also critique them without trashing them.  Good job.

Welcome around! I agree, there is a lot of very objective analysis and discussion that happens here, which is very refreshing.

[Matthew Trueblood]

31 minutes ago, ChapelHeel66 said:

One of the best things about this site (which is new to me), is that unlike social media accounts, there is a lot of honesty in the articles about player limitations.  That is, you can love the players but also critique them without trashing them.  Good job.

Love to hear that. Yeah, the fan culture on social media deflates me, too. It all seems to come from a place of tribalism, which blinds everyone who immerses themselves in it to good things done by any other team or player and to bad things done by anyone representing their tribe. We're trying hard to be the antidote to that: fun yet serious, critical but never cynical or rude. We won't always strike the perfect balance, either, but it's a lot easier to do that at sites like this than on Twitter or Bluesky or (God forbid) Facebook.

[liveforoctober]

12 minutes ago, Matthew Trueblood said:

Love to hear that. Yeah, the fan culture on social media deflates me, too. It all seems to come from a place of tribalism, which blinds everyone who immerses themselves in it to good things done by any other team or player and to bad things done by anyone representing their tribe. We're trying hard to be the antidote to that: fun yet serious, critical but never cynical or rude. We won't always strike the perfect balance, either, but it's a lot easier to do that at sites like this than on Twitter or Bluesky or (God forbid) Facebook.

These boards are the best thing re: Brewers fandom and conversation on the internet. The IG threads threaten daily to be another Twitter or FB world ... but the message boards themselves have so much good in them from fans who seem to have a genuine interest in player and organizational growth while also understanding and appreciating the process of both those things. Agreed with the above commenter that the above attached is an example of that.