Milwaukee Brewers lose Troy Stokes on waivers to Detroit Tigers

One of the fan favorites for those who followed the Milwaukee Brewers’ farm system was Troy Stokes Jr. On Sunday, he was designated for assignment to create roster space for one of Jimmy Nelson or Brent Suter. To the disappointment of those fans, he was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers.

Stokes had emerged as a real prospect demonstrating both power and speed in minor league stops like Carolina and Biloxi. In fact coming into the 2019 season, Eric Longenhagen rated Stokes as the 12th best prospect in the Brewers’ system. In 2018 he hit 19 home runs and stole 19 bases while posting an wRC+ of 121 at AA Biloxi.

Unfortunately, he has yet to take the next step in AAA. For the San Antonio Missions, he was only able to muster an wRC+ of 80 while hitting just 9 home runs. That becomes even more problematic when those numbers are compiled while playing in the very hitter friendly Pacific Coast League.

The 2014, fourth round draft pick could very well still become a solid major league outfielder. Ideally, he would make a major league squad as a fourth outfielder at some point in his career. Unfortunately his lack of arm strength may pose an issue for that possibiliy as most teams would like an outfielder in that role to play all three outfield positions. Stokes might just be a left fielder, and if that is the case, he will have to reach that power/speed ceiling that is so very enticing.

Detroit is the next stop, and he has a much better chance at getting that opportunity there than he did in Milwaukee. With two additional option seasons remaining, it is a solid pick up for the Tigers, and a bitter sweet loss for the Brewers.

Baseball statistics courtesy of Fangraphs