Just How Good Was Cooper Pratt in the World Series?

Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Cooper Pratt doesn’t drink alcohol, but he should never have to buy a Fanta in Wisconsin again for as long as he lives. The 22-year-old shortstop had a World Series for the ages, stroking eight hits in his 19 at-bats (.421 batting average) and driving in a series-high seven runs, including one that would have clinched the trophy if not for a blown save. It was a remarkable, probably MVP-worthy performance that any player in the grand history of the game would kill to have on his résumé. The fact that Pratt is a rookie who was playing high school ball in Mississippi three years ago makes it feel borderline fictional. So just how good was Pratt in the Brewers’ five-game triumph over the Rays? His 0.62 Win Probability Added was not only the highest of all position players who saw the field in this year’s Fall Classic, it was the third-highest ever for a position player 22 or younger in the World Series. He was a rounding error away from equaling Tim McCarver — who logged a 0.63 WPA while batting .478 and catching, not a typo, 27 innings from Bob Gibson — in the 1964 World Series as the Cardinals beat the Yankees in seven. The top spot on that leaderboard, however, belongs to Charlie Keller, a Yankee outfielder who ran up a 1.02 WPA and hit three home runs in New York’s 1939 sweep of the Reds, each with the score tied or within one run. For pitchers, 1921 Waite Hoyt was the best in that age range with 1.55 WPA, while 2001 Byung-Hyun Kim and his -1.11 was the worst. (Matt Martell just wrote about Hoyt’s 1921 World Series in last week’s mailbag column, when answering a question on the best World Series performances from players on the losing team, so you should check out that for more.)FanGraphs Playoff Coverage Is for MembersYou must be a Member in order to read our postseason coverage. You can read our announcement here, but it's not the only reason you should consider becoming a Member. Membership includes:✓Ad-free browsing✓Unlimited FanGraphs & RotoGraphs articles✓Historical & platoon projections✓Leaderboard & player-page stat heatmaps✓One-click data exports✓Customizable player-page dashboards✓Dark & Classic site modes✓Weekly Members-only mailbag✓FanGraphs Walk-Off, your year in review✓Optional homepage photo removal✓Gift articles to non-Members✓Full postseason coverage