Baseball Prospect Journal Podcast · Dan Zielinski

Cooper Pratt - Milwaukee Brewers Shortstop Prospect

·26 min·1 clip

Cooper Pratt was one of the biggest steals in the 2023 MLB draft.

Dan Zielinski opens by framing the episode around spring training getting closer and then turns the show toward a prospect interview. Cooper Pratt comes across as one of the bigger steals in the 2023 MLB draft. Scouts had projected him as a possible second-round pick, but Milwaukee took him in the sixth round. Pratt signed for a $1.35 million bonus, which fits more with the range of a second-round or early third-round pick. The gap between draft slot and value is the main thread running through the episode. Pratt is described as a 6-foot-4, almost 200-pound shortstop with a solid all-around profile. The conversation touches on his ability to hit for average and handle the strike zone. From there, the interview moves into the draft process itself. Pratt describes the phone call, the waiting, and the uncertainty that comes with teams making promises that do not always line up with the board. He talks through the moment of deciding whether to take the money and start his career. The thought that kept coming back was whether he would regret not playing professional baseball. That tension becomes the turning point in the decision. Pratt says baseball had been a dream since he was a little kid. He says he still felt like he could play at Ole Miss, but the pro route was the one he did not want to leave unexplored. The episode also brings in the college side of the story. Pratt grew up close to Ole Miss and knows Mike Bianco, Coach Clem, and Coach Laff. He says he is really close with the coaches there, that his younger brother is headed to Ole Miss, and that a childhood friend is already there. Even so, he says choosing pro ball was in his best interest. The conversation briefly shifts to Ole Miss football before moving back to baseball, which keeps the tone loose and conversational. By the end, Zielinski says he is assuming Pratt will start right at Single-A in Carolina, where the Brewers will begin evaluating him. The episode closes by pointing toward more prospect interviews and keeps Pratt’s development arc in view. It is a straight baseball talk episode built around draft value, personal choice, and the early shape of a pro career.

As heard by us

A sixth-round Brewers story with enough scouting detail and draft tension to hold real prospect value.

Cooper Pratt's rise from Mississippi prep star to Brewers shortstop prospect gives this piece its center of gravity, and the draft-day decision is what keeps it moving.

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Why you'd press play

You want the draft steal story behind a Brewers shortstop prospect.

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