The “Daunt Meter” stationed on Pat Murphy’s desk needed to be adjusted on Sunday morning, Aug. 9.
In the midst of his daily briefing with reporters, the Milwaukee Brewers manager reached over and moved the arrow to the section labeled “Significant Levels of Daunt.”
Not surprising, really, considering all the moving parts on his team as it closes its homestand against the Minnesota Twins at American Family Field and prepares to head out on a second straight West Coast swing that this time will take the Brewers to San Diego and finish with a big four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“It’s all part of it,” Murphy said. “Fun times.”
Infielder Joey Ortiz underwent imaging on his neck and upper back on Saturday night and is considered day to day while shortstop Cooper Pratt headed out Sunday morning for a scan on his right hamstring, which he tweaked in Milwaukee’s 4-3 win.
Alas, the news was not good on Pratt, as he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strain.
“Pratt felt it last night,” said Murphy. “Didn’t know what it was. Didn’t realize. Said he could still play. Still says he can play, but we’re going to take every precaution.”
As a result, Murphy had to file a lineup for Sunday’s finale that featured Andrew Vaughn making his first start at third base since 2021 (he’s played 10 innings there over six games this season) and David Hamilton makins his first start of the season at shortstop.
“I trust the kid as a baseball player,” said Murphy of Vaughn, who also pitched an inning in a mop-up role in San Francisco on Milwaukee’s last road trip. “What else am I going to say? I trust him. He’s a baseball player, and he’s done it before.
“And we’re in an emergency situation.”
To that end, the Brewers also brought in some insurance on Sunday by signing infielder-outfielder Jihwan Bae and adding him to the active roster.
Bae, 27, played 163 games between 2022 and 2025 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and most recently had been alternating between second base and the outfield at Class AAA Syracuse in the New York Mets organization.
A left-handed hitter with speed, Bae fits Milwaukee’s mold but his experience on the infield at the major-league level is lacking. He hasn’t played shortstop there since 2023 while having never played third base.
Bae has logged 60 career starts in the majors at second base.
He batted .257 with five home runs, 32 runs batted in and 36 stolen bases in 91 games for Syracuse. He’s the third South Korean-born player ever for the Brewers, and first since Ji-Man Choi in 2018.
Bae is also the 53rd player to suit up for the Brewers this season.
To clear space on the 40-man roster for Bae, left-hander Drew Rom was designated for assignment. He pitched in five games for the Brewers over two separate stints this season.
Jett Williams, one of the Brewers’ top infield prospects, is on the 40-man roster at Class AAA Nashville but has been battling a wrist injury that he aggravated during his first at-bat on Saturday night.
“Soreness in the wrist again,” Murphy said. “We’re going to send him back to Arizona, send him to a specialist.”
Murphy also opted to giving slumping centerfielder Garrett Mitchell a day off and start Brandon Lockridge for the first time since he was reinstated from the injured list.
Christian Yelich, too, was out of the linup with William Contreras serving a designated hitter as the Twins started left-hander Connor Prielipp.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brewers’ Cooper Pratt goes on injured list and Joey Ortiz is also out
Reporting by Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
