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Last night was symbolic in so many ways that, when you really take it in, it becomes difficult to process. I’m still sitting in my hotel room in Milwaukee thinking about the year, the game, and how some things in life seem almost too perfectly connected to be a coincidence.
Yesterday was the major league debut of Cooper Pratt as a shortstop for the Milwaukee Brewers.
And when Cooper took the field last night, the Brewers let him go out there by himself. It was just him.
He ran onto the field alone. He didn’t look back. When he got to shortstop, he turned around, looked at the stadium, and soaked it all in. There was a smile on his face.
He said he felt like his feet were floating. And then the rest of the team took the field. For many people, it was probably just a moment. Maybe even a little joke. A little prank. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.
But for Future Stars Series, and for me in particular, it was something else entirely.
The word fitting isn’t enough. That’s exactly how it is. And that’s exactly how it should be.
Because while none of these players get here entirely by themselves, when that moment finally comes, when your name gets called, and your feet hit a major league field for the very first time, you’re the one who has to walk out there.
Alone.
You’re the one who has to carry every early morning, every late night, every doubt, every bus ride, every batting practice, every bullpen, every injury, every sacrifice, every conversation, every person who believed in you, and every person who didn’t.
And then you look around. You smile.
Because for one brief moment, before the game starts and before baseball goes back to being baseball, you realize you made it.
And then you have to do it again.
The Call-Up
In the history of baseball, there have been roughly 21,000 major league debuts. In a profession where “hard” and “almost impossibly hard” are separated by only a few inches and a few decisions, simply getting there is an extraordinary accomplishment.
But why yesterday matters isn’t because I care more about Cooper than the players who came before him or those who will come after him. I take all of our players intensely personally. Relationships happen for different reasons, continue for different reasons, and sometimes end for different reasons, but every player who comes through our doors becomes personal to me.
Future Stars Series is in the midst of something of a renaissance. In 2026 alone, we’ve had 14 alumni called up to the majors. Two have been on taxi squads and await activation. Twelve, after last night, have officially made their MLB debuts.
The Brewers assigned Pratt No. 12, because of course they did.
And that brings us back to Cooper. Our history goes back quite a bit.
In eighth grade, Cooper attended a Scout Day with BPA in California — the same event that also introduced us to Petey Halpin, now an outfielder in the Cleveland organization. Mike Eaglin wrote a scouting report on Cooper that day and said he was a pro. He saw something early.
Years later, Cooper came to a Future Stars Series event at the Major League Baseball Youth Academy in Louisiana. We selected him there. He advanced to our National Combine, then to the Main Event, and eventually to the Caribbean Classic.
There have been players who’ve followed pieces of that route, but few who have traveled it exactly as Cooper did. And in keeping with the Pratt tradition, I have to mention the family.
The Pratts are exceptional people. They welcomed me—and all of us—into their homes, hearts, and community in ways very few people do. They are accomplished, baseball-savvy, grounded in strong morals and ethics, and they know authenticity when they see it. Their warmth and acceptance are things I will always cherish.
The Draft
Entering the 2023 MLB Draft, Cooper was widely perceived to be unsignable. The bonus expectations were considered high at the time. Looking back, maybe they weren’t. But that’s how the industry viewed it.
The first day of the draft passed. No Cooper Pratt.
Then, on the morning of Day 2, my phone rang. It was Dan Nellum with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was in the draft room, looking at the board. “Cooper Pratt’s still sitting there. Does he want to play?”
Because of the trust I had built with Cooper and the Pratt family, a sequence of events unfolded. I called Cooper while he was standing in line at Ole Miss. We talked. The family talked. Their advisors talked.
I was able to counsel them on what I thought was fair and reasonable. Cooper wanted to sign. The Brewers wanted to revisit him. Nellum went back into the room and said, essentially, “We need to take another look at Cooper Pratt. I talked to Jeremy. Here’s where we are.”
The wheels were set in motion. Cooper Pratt became Player 15 from the Future Stars Series selected in the 2023 Draft.
15.
My jersey number was 15 as a player. At the 2022 Caribbean Classic, Cooper wore 15. At the time, we joked about it. It felt symbolic because of how close we’d become.
As players progress, I generally let them go play. When they need me, they know where to find me. The Pratts have been different. We’ve had Quincy and Jett with us, too. Both are tremendously talented. We nearly had another cousin in our events before injury intervened. Chris McMinn, Cooper’s high school coach, is now on our staff. The Farm has become something of a hub for us simply because we enjoy being around that family so much. It a home for FSS in Mississippi.
The Moments
It’s been a heck of a June (and season) for Future Stars Series. On June 9, outfielder Braden Montgomery (White Sox) got the call to the big leagues. Five days later, right-handed pitcher Daniel Espino (Guardians) got the call, too. Through every workout, every flight, every airport, and every schedule change imaginable, I tried to get there. I wanted to be there.
I couldn’t.
Earlier this year, when Toronto Blue Jays left-handed pitcher Adam Macko got called — his dad let me know. We were just leaving Canada and trying to get over there because I knew Adam was going to start. I was 200 miles away from the ballpark when it happened, but still couldn’t get there by game time.
When Henry Bolte got called to join the Athletics in the majors, I told him I’d see him. I tried to get there. The logistics couldn’t work.
Everything this year felt difficult to get to for one reason or another.
Robby Snelling with the Marlins.
Edwin Arroyo for the Reds.
Missed Elmer Rodriguez by a day in Texas.
I was able to see some of those guys during the World Baseball Classic, but so many of these moments seemed just out of reach.
This one, however, lined up well.
Almost.
I got stuck in Washington, D.C. I hadn’t slept in nearly three days. My bags stayed on the plane. The aircraft doors jammed. If it could happen in planes, trains, and automobiles, it happened on this trip.
But, finally, I arrived at American Family Field in Milwaukee. Fitting name for a ballpark, considering who I was there to celebrate.
I cleaned up a little and made it to the field about 30 minutes before first pitch.
Brewers. Guardians.
Espino hadn’t pitched yet. The thought was that he’d throw that night so I might have a chance to witness his debut. He didn’t.
But there was something else. Halpin had been called to the big leagues. Petey, whom I’ve always described as can’t-miss television when he hits, is one of my favorite competitors we’ve ever had at Future Stars Series. What’s ironic is that Petey and Cooper were both at that same Scout Day back in 2019. And I hadn’t seen Petey in the big leagues yet either.
Before the 2020 draft, Guardians scouting director Scott Barnsby and I spent time talking about players, including Halpin. The boys don’t know this, but directors from many organizations call. We talk players. We talk makeup. We talk about competitiveness. We talk about who they are and who we think they’ll become. Sometimes, they call during the draft. More often than people realize, those conversations can help shape a player’s future.
Petey was no different. I love that kid. And to see him in the batter’s box and Cooper Pratt standing at shortstop in the same frame was special.
Special for the Pratts. Special for Jared Sandler and everyone at BPA.
Special for me.
I finally arrived at a debut.
With all the guys who have been there so far, and hopefully with many more still to come.
The Number 15. The Number 12. The Brewers. The journey.
Who Cooper Pratt is. The trust he placed in me. The trust all of these young men have placed in me. None of it is lost on me.
My history with Milwaukee runs deep.
I signed a professional contract with the Brewers once upon a time. Years later, I worked there as an area scout. Bruce Seid, the Director at the time, signed me as a player. Jack Zduriencik was the Director in Milwaukee when they pulled me over from the Twins as a scout, and later brought me to Seattle. Tom McNamara, Bobby Heck, and Ray Montgomery all became deeply woven into my baseball life. One of my oldest and dearest family friends, Dave Stewart, was my original connection to Milwaukee. Stew now advises me on the Series.
To have Cooper drafted and signed by the Brewers was meaningful enough. To watch him make his debut there made it something more.
And true to form, for Cooper and for so many of the players who come through our doors, the city embraced him.
Montgomery experienced it, and Macko has all of Canada behind him.
As a side note, your boy over here wrote a letter years ago to help Adam obtain Canadian citizenship so he could represent Team Canada. That’s a verifiable fact, and it was an honor.
To be a part of last night summed up the first chapter of what Future Stars Series has been and what it has become.
It is all the good parts. All the people who worked together. All the people who believed in the mission. All the people who understood the role they needed to play.
And none of the bad.
As if to make that point, Nelson Gord and his son, TJ, were in the ballpark, too.
Nelson has been a friend for a very long time. He was one of the original staff members of Future Stars Series and, in many ways, a guide for me in the early days. To share that night with them was equally special.
When the game ended and Cooper finished signing autographs for family members on the field, he walked over to TJ and signed his hat and a baseball.
The hat he signed? A Future Stars Series hat.
A 21-year-old major leaguer, standing on a big-league field after his debut, signed a Future Stars Series hat.
The moment wasn’t lost on me.
As we move into this year’s Major League Draft Combine and the pre-draft process, I’m so proud of who these guys are.
Macko. Bolte. Pratt. Montgomery. Halpin. Espino. Tommy Troy (D-backs). Snelling. Rodriguez. Arroyo. Konnor Griffin (Pirates).
All different. All the same.
All hungry. All refusing to be denied.
All their own person. All playing this game with an approach, an intensity, and a never-say-die attitude that sets the tone where excellence is simply the expectation.
I’m thankful I got to be back in Milwaukee. I’m thankful I got to share this moment with Cooper.
And I’m thankful for everything it represents and everything their futures still hold. Because Tuesday night wasn’t really about one debut. It was about proof.
Proof that relationships matter. Proof that belief matters. Proof that doing things the right way, over and over and over again, eventually becomes something bigger than any one person.
There’s always another player. Another journey. Another chapter to write. But the time for these players is right here.
These guys set the standard, as did the ones before 2026, where excellence is the expectation.
And us? Well, we roll on.
#WeGotNow
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