Brewers call up their No. 4 prospect Luis Lara to finally make MLB debut after signing 7-year extension

The Milwaukee Brewers have called up their No. 4 prospect, Luis Lara. He will bat second and play center field on Tuesday night in the second game of a doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Lara, 21, made headlines in early June by signing a seven-year, $31 million extension with Milwaukee despite never having reached the major leagues.

The contract, which essentially buys out his pre-arbitration and arbitration years ahead of time, is something more and more teams are doing to lock up their young talent early.

It is a high-risk move if the player is a bust, but it can also reward the big-league club, saving the franchise money down the line if the player develops into the superstar they believe he will be.

Lara's contract is similar to the way the team handled Jackson Chourio and Cooper Pratt, both of whom signed eight-year extensions with little to no major league experience.

Lara has spent the beginning of this season with the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate in Nashville. The outfielder has been absolutely mashing the ball, slashing .321/.432/.470 over 78 games. He has nine home runs with 42 RBI.

Milwaukee has a 57-33 record and is first in the NL Central. The Brewers beat the Cardinals in the first game of the doubleheader earlier in the day, 4-3.

Ace Jacob Misiorowski notched his 10th win of the season and allowed three earned runs over seven innings while punching out 11. Christian Yelich hit an RBI double in the top of the seventh to score what would prove to be the game-winning run.