Brewers Rookies Are Shining Down the Stretch

The Milwaukee Brewers are no strangers to getting strong performances from rookies. From Sal Frelick’s debut in 2023 to Jackson Chourio bursting onto the scene in 2024 to Jacob Misiorowski starting to open eyes last year, young talent has been a big part of the team’s success in recent seasons.

That probably isn’t surprising for a couple of different reasons. For one, the Brewers are one of the smallest markets in the league and don’t often go out and sign big name free agents like your Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees of the world.

Instead, they rely on their internal development to continuously replenish the roster.

And luckily for Milwaukee, that internal development continues to be impressive. The organization keeps putting out strong farm systems year after year with this season’s being particularly talented.

As the Major League and Minor League seasons began, two Brewers prospects started making cases for making MLB debuts in 2026: shortstop Cooper Pratt and outfielder Luis Lara. And it wasn’t just because of their play.

Baseball has seen a trend over the last few years of young players being given long-term contracts extremely early in their careers. In some cases, the contracts have come before players even have an MLB game under their belt.

The Brewers jumped on this trend before the 2024 season when they signed Chourio to an eight-year deal. He made the Opening Day roster and already has proven that he is the team’s franchise cornerstone.

With that contract appearing to work out so well, the Brewers repeated history this year with similar deals for Pratt and Lara. The former signed an eight-year deal on April 3 while the latter signed a seven-year contract on June 9.

Both players were making their Triple-A debuts to start 2026, but the Milwaukee front office felt so confident in their abilities to be future big leaguers that they decided to commit for the long run.

Right now, that’s looking like yet another great decision.

Pratt and Lara Make Their MLB Debuts for the Brewers

Pratt would be the first of the two to make his MLB debut. Needing a spark on the left side of the infield with both third baseman Luis Rengifo and shortstop Joey Ortiz struggling at the plate, Pratt would be called up on June 16 with Rengifo being designated for assignment and Ortiz shifted over to third base.

The 21-year-old Pratt would provide exactly the spark the Brewers were hoping for to start. After an 0-for-3 outing in his actual debut, he’d go 7-for-16 over his next five games. He’d collect his first MLB hit, walk, RBI, and stolen base over that span.

He’d then go through some of the swoons rookies often experience, such as a 4-for-37 stretch in June and July and a 3-for-28 stretch in August. Still, he showed enough between his offensive highs and his elite defense to prove that he’d be a big part of the team going forward.

Lara, on the other hand, would wait a little longer to make his debut as the Milwaukee outfield was more crowded than the left side of the infield. That was until Brandon Lockridge’s injury and Blake Perkins’ struggles opened a spot for him when he was recalled on July 7.

The diminutive rookie would also get off to a solid start at the plate upon his debut, collecting hits in each of his first four games and six of his first seven. He’d add five walks along with his first career double, RBI, and stolen base.

His amazing outfield defense, for which he’d previously won a Minor League Gold Glove, would be put on display very quickly as well. In his second career game on July 8, he’d make a pair of impressive catches, including a running catch at the wall that would be a foreshadowing of future defensive stardom.

Lara would experience some rookie blues himself with a batting average as high as .303 in July dropping as low as .224 in August. But like Pratt, the talent was evident, and with the Brewers continuing to win with them in the lineup, the rookies were given runway to work through their struggles.

As the Playoffs Near, Pratt and Lara are Shining

Leading MLB with the best record in all of baseball (93-56), the Brewers have been cruising through the final month of the season. They’re 8-3 to start September, just clinched their eighth postseason in the last nine years, and are on pace to once again set a franchise record for wins in a season.