Brewers' Pratt pulled midgame for lack of hustle: 'Won't happen again'

Milwaukee Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt learned a valuable lesson when he was lifted midgame against the New York Mets on Tuesday night.

Manager Pat Murphy replaced the rookie with a pinch-runner after he didn't hustle out of the box on a bloop single in the fifth inning.

Murphy added that an earlier at-bat in the game that saw Pratt pull his bat back while the bunt sign was on also contributed to the benching.

"He popped a ball up to right field and didn't run," Murphy explained postgame, according to Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "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 - and it's not laziness."

Pratt showed contrition postgame and owned the mistakes that ended his night early. The 22-year-old also thought it was "good" that both the coaching staff and his veteran teammates held him accountable.

"I gotta be better. Stuff that can't happen. It's not winning baseball," Pratt told reporters, according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. "I didn't help the team win, and it won't happen again, that's for sure. From not getting the bunt down to not running hard to first and turning it into a double. It won't happen again, I can promise you that. It's just not winning baseball."

Pratt added: "There's a certain way we play here, and I may be new but it doesn't matter. It's the way we're taught through the organization from rookie ball to the big leagues, and I didn't do that, and I will do that (from now on) - no excuses."

Despite the early hook, Murphy praised his young shortstop and believes what happened Tuesday will serve him well in the long run.

"I know who this kid is. He's a great kid. It's not laziness," Murphy said. "You gotta have your head in the game. These games, like today, come down to (Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor's) great catch, an errant throw, whatever it may be - you've got to be locked in if you're going to play at this level. So hopefully it was a good learning experience."

The Brewers signed Pratt to an eight-year, $50.75-million extension one week into the season. He later made his major-league debut June 16.

Pratt's struggled at the plate during his rookie campaign - a .259/.333/.347 slash line with two homers, 18 RBIs, and 10 steals over 49 games - but has been a positive defender, ranking in the 86th percentile of outs above average at shortstop.

David Hamilton pinch-ran for Pratt in the fifth and remained in the game to play third base, with Joey Ortiz moving over to shortstop. Hamilton made a throwing error in the bottom of the 10th that allowed the winning run to score in a 3-2 Mets victory.