{"id":661131,"date":"2026-04-03T16:54:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/661131\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T16:54:44","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T16:54:44","slug":"forum-friday-cooper-pratt-abs-emerging-prospects-brewers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/661131\/","title":{"rendered":"Forum Friday: Cooper Pratt, ABS, &#038; Emerging Prospects &#8211; Brewers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n\tHere is a recap of three of the most popular thread topics on Brewer Fanatic&#8217;s fan forums this week:\n<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"556\" data-start=\"157\">\n\tWe knew <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=pratt-000coo&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=brewerfanatic.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-04-03_br\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cooper Pratt<\/a> was excellent with the glove and ranked as the No. 4 prospect in the organization. He could also be considered the Brewers\u2019 fourth-best shortstop in the minor leagues, behind <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=made--000jes&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=brewerfanatic.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-04-03_br\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jes\u00fas Made<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=lara--005lui&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=brewerfanatic.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-04-03_br\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Luis Lara<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=willia000jet&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=brewerfanatic.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-04-03_br\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Jett Williams<\/a>. That context made the news that Milwaukee will commit to Pratt through 2033 all the more surprising, shaking the Brewer Fanatic community in a variety of ways.\n<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"1002\" data-start=\"558\">\n\tThe initial reaction was disbelief. Is this really happening? Why Pratt, and why now? It is clear the Brewers\u2019 front office has conviction in Pratt\u2019s continued development, even if his slash lines have yet to consistently impress since his time as a 19-year-old Mudcat. As always, the Brewer Fanatic community came together to make sense of both the near-term and long-term ripple effects of a move that could shape the organization for the next decade.\n<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"572\" data-start=\"101\">\n\tAutomated balls and strikes are one of the most intriguing additions to the game this season. The system is new for players, coaches, umpires, and fans alike, and there is still a lot to learn about how strike zone challenges will actually play out. When are the optimal times to challenge a call? What unintended consequences might come from a semi-automated zone? Will our thinking on swing planes or launch angles evolve as pitchers adjust to a new form of umpiring?\n<\/p>\n<p data-end=\"961\" data-start=\"574\">\n\tThe Brewers have already tried to get ahead of the curve, exploring ways to help players identify the right moments to challenge, though MLB quickly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mlb.com\/news\/brewers-using-green-index-cards-in-phase-two-of-abs-plan\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">shut that idea down<\/a>. Still, the desire to gain an edge is clear, and this is exactly the kind of change where early adaptation could matter. Come share your reactions to the new ABS system and learn alongside the Brewer Fanatic community.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhat&#8217;s better than Opening Day? Three Opening Days!\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe Wilson Warbirds, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, and Biloxi Shuckers each begin their regular seasons tonight, showcasing the high-end talent throughout the Brewers\u2019 minor league system. The Brewer Fanatic community is hard at work identifying the lesser-known prospects most likely to emerge in 2026. Want to impress your friends? Start by predicting that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=bitont000eri&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=brewerfanatic.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-04-03_br\" rel=\"external nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Eric Bitonti<\/a>\u2019s hit tool will begin to catch up with his plus-plus raw power in Appleton this season.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThere is no better place to follow the daily developments throughout the Milwaukee farm system than Brewer Fanatic!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Here is a recap of three of the most popular thread topics on Brewer Fanatic&#8217;s fan forums this&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":661132,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2401],"tags":[5,136,25711,25479,843,59,4280,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-661131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-milwaukee-brewers","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-brewers","10":"tag-cooper-pratt","11":"tag-eric-bitonti","12":"tag-milwaukee","13":"tag-milwaukee-brewers","14":"tag-milwaukeebrewers","15":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116341824956300577","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=661131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/661131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/661132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=661131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=661131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=661131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}