Troy Stokes, Jr. On Playing in Venezuela and His Future With the Milwaukee Brewers

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It’s been a long time since baseball games that count were played in the United States, but across the Caribbean the playoffs are in full force. On Sunday Jesus Aguilar and the Tigres de Aragua scored five in the sixth inning to beat Caracas 6-5 in game three of the first round of Venezuela’s postseason. Aguilar was not, however, the only Brewer involved in helping Aragua chase a championship.

Earlier this fall outfielder, 2014 fourth round pick and 2018 Biloxi Shucker Troy Stokes, Jr. spent six weeks in Venezuela with Aragua and made a big impact, batting .298 with a .391 on-base percentage and .447 slugging in 28 contests. It was the final stop in a big year for Stokes, who hit 19 home runs in 129 games for Biloxi, went 19-for-21 stealing bases and won a Minor League Gold Glove, then was added to the Brewers’ 40-man roster following the season.

Over the weekend we talked to Stokes about his big year and his experience playing winter ball for the first time in a country marred by violence and unrest.

First of all, I’d love to hear about the process of signing to go play in Venezuela. How does that come about?

Well, going into spring training last year I let it be known, I knew it was my protection year [the year when Stokes had to be added to the 40-man roster or exposed to this fall’s Rule 5 draft], I knew it was going to be close depending on how I played, so I kind of put my name out there to coaches that I knew had anything to do with winter ball leagues. I kind of put it out there: “Yeah, I’m interested in playing winter ball, if you find anything open.” That was the first step I made towards getting my name out there.

Then, as the season went on, I started telling my agent. Once we hit the All-Star break I was telling my agent, “Yeah, I’d like to go play winter ball somewhere.” I was assuming it’d be the Dominican. For everybody right now the Dominican is kind of the best spot to go, the hot spot. But I kept trying. Then it came about, the last month was when I really was trying, and then honestly, I didn’t think anyone was going to offer me. I thought I was going to go home after the season ended and hopefully get a call.

The Venezuelan team, Tigres, ended up contacting my agent. Then my agent told me, and I had to think about it. I definitely had to think about it because it was in Venezuela, and there’s a lot of stuff going on down there right now. But I decided to play, and I was down there for six weeks.

So in the middle of all of this, you had a huge year. You played in 129 regular season games, you were added to the 40-man roster. How close were you to deciding, “I’ve done enough this year,” and not going to Venezuela?

The only reason I wouldn’t have gone was because people were telling me it wasn’t safe. That would have been the only reason I didn’t go. When I made up my mind to go play I hadn’t been added to the 40-man yet. I knew I was in the discussions, I knew it was going to be close, but I felt like I needed to go down there, for one to experience going out of the country and seeing how they play baseball down there, the excitement part of it, and then I also wanted to put up more numbers.

I was happy with my year, I wasn’t satisfied with my year, but I was happy with my year in AA. I accomplished a lot of things and continued to progress. But this year a big thing for me was striking out. I struck out a lot. Last year I struck out a good amount, but this year, specifically early in the first half of the season, I struck out a lot. Way more than I wanted to. So that was a big thing for me. I wanted to go down there and show the Brewers and everybody, and myself, that I know how to cut down on my strikeouts and put the ball in play. I felt pretty good that I accomplished that down there.

Off the field, how did Venezuela compare to what you expected?

There’s a lot of security. I would say the country is dangerous. Compared to America, it’s a lot different. I’m American. I don’t speak Spanish or anything like that. I can kind of blend in because I’m African American, so a few guys actually thought I was Venezuelan before they heard me talk.

I didn’t get to travel that much just because of security concerns. I don’t know Spanish, so pretty much I lived in the hotel and at the stadium for six weeks. Their culture is just different. It’s fun, but it was very different. I wish I could have experienced more in my six weeks, gone out a little more and stuff. I still had fun, but just because of the way the country is now I couldn’t experience everything I would have liked to off the field.

So how does baseball in Venezuela compare to the minors in the U.S.?

I would say, honestly, it’s a lot more exciting. From the first inning to the last inning, the fans are in games. If you score, the other team scores, everyone’s cheering. There’s always noise. There’s like a commentator that, during the game you might be in the box and the commentator’s yelling out Spanish words, for instance. You might be down, on the road, if the count’s 1-2, everyone wants to strike me out. The commentator might be yelling “Ponche!” which means strike him out, and he’ll be yelling it. And the pitcher’s starting his windup and he’ll still be saying it.

In America as soon as the pitcher’s on the rubber you cut the music, cut everything. But down there everything was more energetic. They didn’t really care about guys pimping home runs. If you hit a home run down there, a guy’s gonna pimp it whether it goes just barely over the fence or if it goes 50 feet over. But the thing is, if the other team hits a home run they’re going to pimp it too. So there’s no big deal, unless you show up somebody and then the same rules apply.

But it’s more relaxed, more fun. Guys will be talking smack in the box. Not blatantly, but everyone knows everyone, they’re friends. It was cool.

This is your first winter on the Brewers’ 40-man roster and next spring will be your first spring as a member of major league camp. Does that change your plans or preparation at all?

Not really. I want to stick with what’s been working for me, in my training and offseason workouts and stuff. I want to keep the same mentality. I know a big thing for me, this year I got to play some center field in Biloxi and Venezuela. I won a Gold Glove, and I always knew I was a really good defender, I just had to start showing people.

Then another big thing for me is getting my arm stronger. That’s been my biggest…I wouldn’t say hurdle, but if you talk about me, everything’s good until you mention my arm. So that’s a big thing for me, and towards the end of the year I started to make strides, and this offseason I feel like I’m making strides to get it stronger.

So for the most part I have the same game plan going into spring training, the same mentality. I’m not trying to really impress somebody. I mean, I’m always trying to impress somebody but I’m going to play my game, do what I know I can do.

Within the last month the Brewers have traded away a pair of major league outfielders. Is that something you think about, the possibility of a clearer path to making an impact at the big league level, or is that something you have to put out of your mind?

It doesn’t really change how I’m going to approach the year. You definitely know, though, that they traded away [Keon] Broxton and [Domingo] Santana, now there’s two less outfielders on the 40-man roster, so that’s two less guys in my way to the big leagues. That’s the business, everyone gets traded and stuff happens. But I’m excited, you can’t not be excited now that you’re that much closer and there are fewer people in front of you. But for me, it doesn’t change the way I think about how I play or the things I need to do.