For fans old enough to remember the old Cooooop chants at Milwaukee County Stadium whenever the legendary Cecil Cooper stepped to the plate in the 80’s, Tuesday night brought back some fond memories, as fans revived the Coooop chants for the Major League debut of 21-year-old shortstop Cooper Pratt.
“It sounds cool. It almost sounded like a boo” Pratt said while meeting with members of the media in the locker room on Wednesday night, “and I was like, ‘dang, been here one game’, but no, it’s Coop. I like it.
Drafted by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 2023 Draft, Pratt got a well over-slot deal, reported to be worth $1.35 million, that lured him away from an offer to play collegiately at Ole Miss.
After signing with Milwaukee, he began his pro career with a brief stint in the ACL in 2023, appearing in 12 games, and hitting .356 with an .870 OPS.
He split the 2024 season between Low-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin, hitting a combined .277 with eight home runs, and was also chosed to represent Milwaukee in the Futures Game at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
After just 23 games at the High-A level, the Brewers aggressively promoted Pratt to Biloxi in 2025, where he saw action in a career-high 120 games with the Shuckers, and while he didn’t produce huge offensive numbers in the Southern League, his defense was described by many as “big league ready”.
A terrific defender with good size and quick hands, Pratt is an athletic shortstop, who won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award in 2024, and continued to impress with his glove work.
As the Brewers wait for Pratt’s offense to catch up to his defense, they saw enough in him both on and off the field, to lock him down for the long-term, signing him in April to an eight-year deal guaranteed to be worth more than $50 million.
Pratt began the 2026 season at Triple-A Nashville, and got off to a bit of a slow start, hitting just .229 in April, but he began heating up in May, slugging four home runs and posting an .800 OPS, and after just 58 Triple-A contests, he was called up to Milwaukee on Tuesday to make his Major League debut.
In his first game against the Cleveland Guardians, Pratt had a rather uneventful night, going 0-for-3, as he adjusted to his first taste of The Show.
But one night later, he showed a glimpse of what the Brewers saw in him, coming through on several occasions, with a game of firsts on Wednesday evening, recording his first hit, first RBI, first run scored and first stolen base in a 9-4 win over the Guardians.
When asked after the game how he felt in night two, compared to night one, Pratt answered, “A lot calmer. It was more relaxed because I got the first one out of the way and then it was just like, ‘okay, you had your day, and now it’s time to play.’”
Stepping to the plate in the bottom of the second, Pratt shot the ball to the opposite field, bouncing a single into right field for his first career big league hit.
After picking up his first Major League hit, Pratt, speaking with Sofia Minnaert of BREWERS.TV on the field after the game said, “I was just trying to put the ball in play and then I found a hole and I was pretty pumped. It was magical”
Later in the locker room while speaking with reporters, Pratt joked that “it would have been nice to have it yesterday”, before adding “but it was fantastic. I was afraid he was gonna like dive or something and throw me out. And then once I saw it go through, I was like ‘oh yeah’. I heard the crowd and it was sick.”
Moments later, after a sacrifice bunt moved him to second, Pratt scored for the first time, when Christian Yelich laced an RBI single to second.
“I knew once he (Yelich) hit it, it was over his head, so I just frickin’ ran as hard as I could. (Cleveland) Made a bad throw. Safe”.”
In the eighth inning, with two on and one out, Pratt picked up his first RBI, again going to the opposite field, shooting a line drive single to right to score Sal Frelick. “I was not striking out on that one”, Pratt said. “I was so far on the plate, I was like ‘whatever you do, get it in the air, do something, but don’t strike out.”
With Pratt now in the big leagues, don’t expect to see him on the bench much. The team designated Luis Rengifo for assignment and Manager Pat Murphy made it clear that Pratt’s name will likely be penciled in the lineup on a regular basis.
“The pieces fit easily” Murphy said. “This is a kid that we’ve signed long-term. We feel confident that he will be our shortstop of the future. And he’s gonna play.”
With a long-term deal in place, and the backing of the organization behind him, it’s clear that the Brewers view Cooper Pratt as their shortstop of the future, and fans in Milwaukee can look forward to plenty of more Coooop chants reigning down at American Family Fields for the better part of the next decade.
• One of the big beneficiaries of Pratt’s promotion to Milwaukee, was 23-year-old Eduardo Garcia, who was brought up from Double-ABiloxi to fill Pratt’s roster spot at Triple-A Nashville.
Already in his eighth season in the Brewers farm system, Garcia was originally signed out of Venezuela for $1.1 million in 2018. Though he hasn’t hit a ton throughout his career, carrying a .244 average, Garcia is a plus defender with the ability to play multiple positions, and should prove to be another solid depth piece for the Sounds.
• Unfortunately, the news wasn’t as good for Nashville left-hander Tate Kuehner, who will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks with some left elbow soreness.
Kuehner, who last pitched on May 20th, has appeared in nine games for the Sounds so far this year, starting eight of them, going 1-2 with a 5.80 ERA while striking out 40 batters over 40.1 innings of work.
• In a long-awaited move, the Brewers officially promoted top third base prospect Andrew Fischer to Double-A Biloxi on Tuesday, after an impressive first half of the season in High-A.
Through 54 games at Wisconsin, Fischer hit .298/.443/.675 with 20 home runs and 50 runs batted in, posting a 1.118 OPS. He picked up right where he left off in his Double-A debut, slugging another home run on Wednesday, his 21st of the season.
• Joining Fischer in Biloxi will also be outfielder Josh Adamczewski, who also seemed overdue for a bump to Double-A.
Adamczewski, who made the move to the outfield this season. appeared in 50 games for the Timber Rattlers, hitting .331/.464/.572 with a 1.036 OPS, collecting 11 doubles, to go along with one triple and nine home runs, while scoring 41 runs and walking more than he struck out.
• At High-A Wisconsin, right-handed pitcher Daniel Corniel continued to make his way back from injury, when he took the mound for the Timber Rattlers against Quad Cities on Thursday night.
Originally signed by the Brewers out of Venezuela in 2022, Corniel impressed in his first three seasons and opened last year with Wisconsin, before landing on the injured list after just one relief appearance last April. After 13 months of rehab, Corniel made five starts in the Complex League, then was sent back to Wisconsin, where he worked three scoreless innings of relief last night.
Nashville Sounds (AAA) – Current record: 42-30, 2nd place in the International League West Division, 3.0 games back of first place Memphis (Cardinals).
Biloxi Shuckers (AA) – Current record: 32-30, 1st place in the Southern League South Division, 1.0 game in front of first place Montgomery (Rays) with four games remaining in the first half of the season.
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A+) – Current record: 34-28, Finished the first half of the season in 2nd place in the Midwest League West Division, 5.0 game back of first place South Bend (Cubs). The second half of the season begins tonight.
Wilson Warbirds (A) – Current record: 36-30, finished the first half of the season in 2nd place in the Carolina League North Division, 10 games back of first place Fredericksburg (Nationals).
ACL Brewers (R) – Current record: 18-17, 4th place in the Arizona Complex League Central Division, 3.0 games back of first place ACL Guardians.
DSL Brewers Blue (R) – Current record: 9-3, 2nd place in the Dominican Summer League Northwest Division, 1.5 game back of first place DSL Padres Gold.
DSL Brewers Gold (R) – Current record: 3-10, last place in the Dominican Summer League Central Division, 5 games back of first place DSL Orioles Orange and DSL Cubs Blue.