Milwaukee Brewers rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt faced a challenging moment against the New York Mets on Tuesday night when manager Pat Murphy pulled him out of the game in the fifth inning.
In the fifth inning, Pratt hit a fly ball that landed between three Mets defenders in shallow right field, resulting in a single. Despite encouragement from first base coach Spencer Allen to advance to second, Pratt remained at first base. Murphy decided to remove Pratt from the game due to his perceived lack of effort on the basepath.
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MLB fans had varied responses to the Brewers manager’s decision to pull Pratt from the game.
“Pat Murphy was totally wrong here.”
“I 100% support pulling players that do this. However, this was kinda weak. He didn’t really do anything. This was over-managing.”
“Pat Murphy is an idiot. I’m sorry but the man doesn’t know how to lead a baseball team. Weak manager!”
“He wouldn’t have made it to 2nd even if he was running 100%, he should not have been taken out and that is very petty from Pat Murphy imo.”
“This is borderline at best, kid was not being lazy IMO just unsure.”
Pratt, who debuted in MLB earlier this season, was reportedly emotional in the locker room after being pulled from the game. Despite his disappointment, the rookie admitted to his mistake, calling it “inexcusable” after the game.
“I don’t have an excuse for it. I should have run hard and I wasn’t,” he said. “I don’t have an excuse for it. It’s inexcusable.”
Brewers manager Pat Murphy explains decision to remove Cooper Pratt in fifth inning
The Brewers experienced a 3-2 loss against the Mets in extra innings. Manager Pat Murphy pointed out Cooper Pratt’s earlier mistake at the plate, when he missed a strike right down the middle after attempting a bunt with two runners on base.
“Later, next at-bat, he popped a ball up to right field and didn’t run,” Murphy said. “The ball landed and stopped – he would have easily got to second base. What could have happened after that, I’m not sure. But you can’t have a guy not understanding that.
“And I felt like the first at-bat – didn’t attempt at a bunt on a ball right down the middle – and in the second at-bat, a pop-up that landed fair and he wasn’t at second base, it’s time to let him know that.”
Earlier this month, Murphy also pulled Brandon Sproat and Robert Gasser mid at-bats. The Brewers manager stated that Pratt’s removal was intended to send a message to “everybody else.”
Edited by Chaitanya Prakash

