While the Charlotte Knights faced the Nashville Sounds for the start of their six-game series, they didn't face Cooper Pratt.
Pratt was in the home dugout, but he was not in the lineup as he and the Brewers close in on a contract extension reportedly running eight years and $51 million, with a pair of club options that have escalators.
It's a lesser extension than the one the Mariners and Colt Emerson reached (eight years, $95 million), as that one set the record for a player who had yet to appear in a major league game. Yet the Pratt one is more fascinating, because he's not a consensus all-world prospect who is on the cusp of debuting (Eloy Jiménez and Luis Robert Jr. met this description when the White Sox were in this business). He ranks 50th on Baseball America's Top 100, 62nd on MLB Pipeline's, and merited a 45 FV on FanGraphs' assessment of Milwaukee's system.
That's not typically the sort of player who warrants this extension, especially since he hit just .238/.343/.348 for Double-A Biloxi. That's a respectable performance for a 20-year-old in a league that suffocated hitters, especially when it's paired with laudable glovework, but he doesn't yet project for the sort of power that runs up big tabs in arbitration years.
It'll be fascinating to see how this particular bet unfolds, especially if Pratt merely reaches the solid regular lifestyle. Perhaps the Brewers know something about his development trajectory others don't, but the money they're committing indicates that he's the kind of player who could always be improved upon. The time commitment is bigger than the dollars, and I suppose that's the resource Milwaukee can better afford splurging with. If the White Sox are aping the Brewers, it ought to see if they follow this particular lead, even if they were pioneers on this particular route.
Nashville 7, Charlotte 3
- Sam Antonacci went 1-for-3 with two walks and two stolen bases, including a swipe of home.
- William Bergolla Jr. was 1-for-4 with a double and a strikeout.
- Tanner Murray was 0-for-2 with two walks, an HBP, a strikeout and two stolen bases.
- Jarred Kelenic was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts, both coming with the bases loaded.
- Jonathan Cannon: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR, 52 of 84 pitches for strikes.
Notes and highlights:
*The double steal answered one the Sounds pulled on the Knights the inning before, although that one was because Bergolla dropped the ball on the transfer.
