The Brewers announced that they have recalled infielder Cooper Pratt, a move that was reported a couple of days ago. In a corresponding move, infielder Luis Rengifo has been designated for assignment.
Milwaukee took a bounceback flier on Rengifo in the offseason. He had a solid run with the Angels from 2022 to 2024, slashing .273/.323/.431 for a 111 wRC+ while playing every position except for first base and the battery. He had a downturn at the plate in 2025, hitting just .238/.287/.335 for a 73 wRC+. That was particularly poor timing, as that swoon occurred just before he became a free agent.
The Brewers gave him a $3.5MM guarantee on a one-year deal with a mutual option and incentives. Obviously, they hoped that Rengifo could put his rough season behind him and get back on track. Unfortunately, he’s gotten even worse. In 209 trips to the plate, he has a .205/.280/.254 line and 53 wRC+. Part of that is due to a .233 batting average on balls in play but Rengifo also didn’t hit a home run as a Brewer.
That performance has prompted the club to move on. Rengifo now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Brewers could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. Given his performance and his contract, there shouldn’t be too much interest. Rengifo has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency while keeping his salary in place. The Brewers might skip that formality and just release him.
One way or another, he’s likely to be on the open market in the coming week. Assuming that comes to pass, the Brewers will be on the hook for the remainder of the money. Another club could sign him for the prorated league minimum for any time spent on the roster, with that amount subtracted from what the Brewers pay.
What remains to be seen is how the Brewers distribute the playing time on the left side of their infield. They have been using Rengifo at third and Joey Ortiz at shortstop with David Hamilton getting regular playing time spelling both guys at those spots. As mentioned, Rengifo wasn’t doing much with the bat. That’s also true of the other two. Hamilton has a .231/.316/.320 line and 83 wRC+ on the year while Ortiz has a .207/.299/.262 line and 64 wRC+.
Pratt has almost exclusively played shortstop in his minor league career. The only other spot he has played is second base and that was only 21 innings at the Complex League in 2023. Presumably, Pratt is coming up to take over the shortstop job and will play there regularly.
Ortiz could spell Pratt on occasion but he might now be battling Hamilton for playing time at third. Ortiz has experience at the hot corner, as he was Milwaukee’s regular guy there in 2024. He moved over to short in 2025 after Willy Adames became a free agent and signed with the Giants. Hamilton and Ortiz are both strong defenders but the Brewers may look for a third base upgrade at the deadline if neither starts hitting.
Photo courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel, Imagn Images
