How do we feel about Troy Stokes at this point?

[clancyphile]

In the vein of the Corey Ray and Trent Clark threads, let's take a look at another Brewers OF prospect.

 

Let's get some honest opinions about Troy Stokes at this point.

[jerichoholicninja]

[sarcasm]Stoked?[/sarcasm]

[MrTPlush]

How many single player threads do we need?

[adambr2]

Especially about a guy who, let's be honest, is pretty much right on the border between 'prospect' and 'organizational depth'. Might as well fire up a 'How do we feel about Wendell Rijo' thread.

 

To answer the OP however he has demonstrated more power than I expected but i would still expect him to have a 5th OFer ceiling if he's ever fortunate enough to make the show.

[sheetskout]

How many single player threads do we need?

 

Is this guy just snaking my theme? I posted the other two.

[MilwaukeesBest]

I like the threads of concentrated opinions on some of the guys the majority of people aren't talking about (Hader, Brinson, Phillips, Hiura, etc.).

[reillymcshane]

I honestly don't mind these - especially in the off season when things are a bit slower. I do, however, think they should be spaced out more - say once a week. I think there just gets too many threads like this going at once and they all just suffer from it.

[clancyphile]

How many single player threads do we need?

 

Is this guy just snaking my theme? I posted the other two.

 

Not trying to "snake" the theme, but felt that a player who broke out deserved more attention.

[sheetskout]

How many single player threads do we need?

 

Is this guy just snaking my theme? I posted the other two.

 

Not trying to "snake" the theme, but felt that a player who broke out deserved more attention.

 

Dude, it's all good. But you used my exact phrasing.

[Outlander]

He is a very good prospect that is overlooked by many. Comparing him to Wendell Rijo is just being silly. Good on base, power and speed, out of everybody in the top 25 he will likely have a top 5 major league career, real solid player.

[KeithStone53151]

He is a very good prospect that is overlooked by many. Comparing him to Wendell Rijo is just being silly. Good on base, power and speed, out of everybody in the top 25 he will likely have a top 5 major league career, real solid player.

 

That's incredibly optimistic. He might have a shot at an MLB career is he played CF, but he primarily has played LF. Unless you're hitting 300 with 30 plus dingers in the minors, you likely aren't going to be an average major leaguer in LF. The problem with 4th outfielder designations in general is generally a 4th outfielder is a guy with at least a few years of mlb experience under his belt. You usually don't want to bring up a young guy with the idea of him being a 4th outfielder and getting inconsistent playing time. That's a recipe for failure, we've seen plenty of it. Stokes's season did enough to keep him on the fringe of prospect/organizational depth for probably one more season. If in 2018 he can crack 850 ops with an average approaching 300 and shows enough competence in CF that he can play average mlb defense there, maybe he can start getting talked about as a true 4th outfield caliber player that gets a shot as a 2nd division regular somewhere. That's best case for him, and assumes we trade him to a team that is starting a rebuild and believes in him.

[OnaBadger58]

For me, Stokes had the most surprising offensive numbers in the minors. In a league that is known to be extremely hitter-friendly, Stokes his 14HR in 100 games played in A+. Finished the year with 20HR and 30SB, certainly numbers that grab your attention. Yet another OF prospect, so it's really hard to see his future with the Brewers. He reminds me of Jean Segura with more pop (and strikeouts).

[nate82]

If Stokes was a CF he would get a little bit more praise bit he is not and thus he looks to be a 4th OF at best. He is way behind Harrison and just above Tyrone Taylor on the OF list. I would even put him behind Ray and Demi in terms of prospect status and also behind Clark.

 

Harrison, Clark, and Taylor are better athletes than Stokes and thus they rate higher for me and Demi has Bo Jackson level power potential. While he had a nice year I don't expect him to repeat it but you never know. He will definitely have a shorter leash than Clark, Harrison, and Ray have.

 

Stokes will probably start out in AA with Harrison and Ray and probably Taylor also. If either Taylor or Stokes stumble next year Clark or someone else will be taking over for one of them. Stokes really needs to start off the year on fire as there are better prospects behind him who are going to be taking time away from him if he stumbles.

[Austin Tatious]

Even being a solid fourth outfielder has good value. Those are important cogs on a roster. If that’s what Stokes ends up being, I think it’s still a success with value. I’m not ready to count on him or anything, but he did have an impressive season.

 

PS, love these threads. They are very good for offseason discussion. Keep ‘me coming. I’m happy to talk ball year round.

[clancyphile]

If Stokes was a CF he would get a little bit more praise bit he is not and thus he looks to be a 4th OF at best. He is way behind Harrison and just above Tyrone Taylor on the OF list. I would even put him behind Ray and Demi in terms of prospect status and also behind Clark.

 

Harrison, Clark, and Taylor are better athletes than Stokes and thus they rate higher for me and Demi has Bo Jackson level power potential. While he had a nice year I don't expect him to repeat it but you never know. He will definitely have a shorter leash than Clark, Harrison, and Ray have.

 

Stokes will probably start out in AA with Harrison and Ray and probably Taylor also. If either Taylor or Stokes stumble next year Clark or someone else will be taking over for one of them. Stokes really needs to start off the year on fire as there are better prospects behind him who are going to be taking time away from him if he stumbles.

 

Stokes played CF in high school, but this year, he was on the same team as Harrison for the most part, and was shunted off to left. That may have also been the case in 2016. So, it may be that any problems in CF come from being rusty, not a lack of talent.

[TURBO]

 

Dude, it's all good. But you used my exact phrasing.

 

For continuity I'm guessing.

[brewcrewdue80]

The guy was a 4th round selection. 5'7-8" tall. Could easily see being dropped quite a number of pegs with that height. The draft day writeup has him as a Speedy CF leadoff type with Gap power.

 

If he's found a way to make gap power in to HR power, his production last season has to come with some optimism. Under a .292 BABIP so a .250 avg is something that luck should see higher. Put him in the .270s/.350s with 20/40 splits, what is keeping him down from nearing a top 100 list? That 4th round selection, which if it were a 2nd round or higher he's probably making lists this off-season.

[nate82]

If Stokes was a CF he would get a little bit more praise bit he is not and thus he looks to be a 4th OF at best. He is way behind Harrison and just above Tyrone Taylor on the OF list. I would even put him behind Ray and Demi in terms of prospect status and also behind Clark.

 

Harrison, Clark, and Taylor are better athletes than Stokes and thus they rate higher for me and Demi has Bo Jackson level power potential. While he had a nice year I don't expect him to repeat it but you never know. He will definitely have a shorter leash than Clark, Harrison, and Ray have.

 

Stokes will probably start out in AA with Harrison and Ray and probably Taylor also. If either Taylor or Stokes stumble next year Clark or someone else will be taking over for one of them. Stokes really needs to start off the year on fire as there are better prospects behind him who are going to be taking time away from him if he stumbles.

 

Stokes played CF in high school, but this year, he was on the same team as Harrison for the most part, and was shunted off to left. That may have also been the case in 2016. So, it may be that any problems in CF come from being rusty, not a lack of talent.

 

That is my point Stokes is not going to be a CF on the Brewers as long as Clark, Harrison, and Ray are on the team. You could even add Taylor to the mix also for CF. Stokes is just not all that good offensively for a LF or a RF he needs to be a CF to provide his full value otherwise you are looking at a AAAA player if he is going to be playing in the corner OF spot. He still has some value to the Brewers but not all that much as a 4th or 5th OF.

 

Stokes is stuck in LF behind Clark, Harrison, and Ray so he has a rather large hill to climb before he even gets a chance so I don't see him being all that highly rated.

[FVBrewerFan]

Most importantly, he's stuck behind Phillips. But being blocked shouldn't affect the status of a prospect.

[JohnBriggs12]

Stokes certainly has outproduced Ray even though he's 16 months younger. Yes he's short and a RH hitter, but being short and a RH hitter hasn't hurt Jose Altuve. I'd think he can still get better but I fear Stearns will get fleeced at some point dealing Stokes like he did in trading the Brewer minor league POY in the first half of 2017, Garrett Cooper, for the forgettable Tyler Webb.

[reillymcshane]

I fear Stearns will get fleeced at some point dealing Stokes like he did in trading the Brewer minor league POY in the first half of 2017, Garrett Cooper, for the forgettable Tyler Webb.

Sorry, this has nothing to do with Troy Stokes. Why does a Troy Stokes thread have to turn into a Stearns bashing thread? Can't we save that for the 'What do with this of David Stearns at this point' thread? It's like the in-game-threads, where every third post was twisted to attack or criticize (INSERT PLAYER/COACH/MANAGER/OWNER NAME).

[82brewcrew82]

What else, frankly, would the guy post about?

 

With regard to Stokes, I agree that his value as a player should not be affected by the players ahead of him at the same position. I kind of put him in the same category as a Kris Davis or Scooter Gennett. I'm not saying they are similar players at all, just saying they were players that were always doubted for some reason even though they continued to hit pretty much at every level.

 

Maybe Stokes pans out, maybe not. Like others have mentioned he is producing where other, more highly touted, prospects are not. I am a believer that there is far more to evaluating minor league players than just looking at a stat line and I admittedly favor higher ceilings over production from lower ceiling players, but production shouldn't be ignored entirely either.

 

In the end I'll rank at least a handful of outfielders ahead of Stokes but I wouldn't be surprised to see him have a more productive big league career than a few of them.

[KeithStone53151]

I fear Stearns will get fleeced at some point dealing Stokes like he did in trading the Brewer minor league POY in the first half of 2017, Garrett Cooper, for the forgettable Tyler Webb.

Sorry, this has nothing to do with Troy Stokes. Why does a Troy Stokes thread have to turn into a Stearns bashing thread? Can't we save that for the 'What do with this of David Stearns at this point' thread? It's like the in-game-threads, where every third post was twisted to attack or criticize (INSERT PLAYER/COACH/MANAGER/OWNER NAME).

 

I'm not sure why any thread would turn into the Stearns bashing thread. Not much to bash.

 

Back to Stokes, he isn't highly rated because his skill set is highly unlikely to play up as well as it is currently. No different than some of the best college football players not translating to the NFL. He's going to have to do like Jason Rogers/Brent Suter and force our hand with his play...whether it be trading him to a team that believes in him or finding playing time due to injury or poor performance.

[LouisEly]

If Stokes was a CF he would get a little bit more praise bit he is not and thus he looks to be a 4th OF at best. He is way behind Harrison and just above Tyrone Taylor on the OF list. I would even put him behind Ray and Demi in terms of prospect status and also behind Clark.

 

Harrison, Clark, and Taylor are better athletes than Stokes and thus they rate higher for me and Demi has Bo Jackson level power potential.

Let me get this straight... Stokes last year at the age of 21 split the season between A+ and AA where he put up just under a .800 OPS and 20 HRs/30 SBs. Orimoloye last year, at the age of 20, put up a .632 OPS and .281 OBP in low A with 11 HRs/38 SBs. Both were 4th round picks, Stokes is 11 months older.

 

But Orimoloye is the better prospect. OK...

[LouisEly]

Back to Stokes, he isn't highly rated because his skill set is highly unlikely to play up as well as it is currently. No different than some of the best college football players not translating to the NFL. He's going to have to do like Jason Rogers/Brent Suter and force our hand with his play...whether it be trading him to a team that believes in him or finding playing time due to injury or poor performance.

Why can't Stokes be a Khris Davis with a little less power but faster and better defensively (and a better walk rate and lower K rate)? He was only 21 this past season.

 

40-HR seasons are not likely, but in 2014 Davis put up a 2.1 bWAR season with 22 HRs and a .756 OPS. Davis only once hit 20 HRs in a season in the minors, 22 in low A at Wisconsin at the age of 22 (*probably would have hit 20 if not injured in 2012, but he was also 24 that season). Stokes hit 20 at one and two levels higher and at a year younger.