Brewers protect outfielder Troy Stokes Jr. and pitcher Trey Supak from the Rule 5 draft

The Milwaukee Brewers made moves to protect two of their prospects Tuesday, adding outfielder Troy Stokes Jr. and right-hander Trey Supak to their 40-man roster.

With those moves, the Brewers' 40-man roster stands at 39.

It was the last day teams could add prospects to 40-man rosters, which protects them from being taken by other clubs in the Rule 5 draft of unprotected players on Dec. 13 at the winter meetings.

"It's always challenging to decide who to protect because you always seem to have more guys you like than open spots," Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan said. "But these two guys really earned it with the way they've performed the last couple of seasons. We wanted to make sure they stayed with us for the foreseeable future."

Stokes, 22, enhanced his status with a strong showing in winter ball in Venezuela before calling it a season. In 28 games for Aragua, he batted .298 with a .391 on-base percentage, .447 slugging percentage, four home runs, 12 RBI and seven stolen bases in seven attempts.

A fourth-round draft pick in 2014 out of Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore, Stokes has an unusual mix of speed and power packed into his 5-foot-8, 182-pound frame. In 129 games at Class AA Biloxi, he batted .233 with a .343 OBP, .430 slugging percentage, 23 doubles, six triples, 19 homers and 58 RBI, with 19 steals in 21 attempts.

Stokes, primarily a leftfielder, also has developed into a stellar defender, winning a minor-league Gold Glove in 2018.

"He's a little small in stature but he has a lot of pop in his swing and gets to a lot of balls he can really drive," Flanagan said. "He gets on base and can steal bases. Troy has that speed-power combo you really like, and his defense has really come on. He's certainly capable of playing center."

Supak, 22, was acquired with outfielder Keon Broxton from Pittsburgh in a Dec. 17, 2015, trade for first baseman Jason Rogers, who is no longer playing affiliated baseball. Supak split last season at advanced Class A Carolina and Biloxi, going 8-7 with a 2.38 earned run average in 25 starts, with 111 hits, 44 walks and 123 strikeouts in 137 2/3 innings.

"Supak has good size (6-foot-5, 235) and has four pitches that have improved each year we've had him," Flanagan said. "He has the whole package of stuff. He doesn't wow you with velocity necessarily but he still has got plenty of fastball and has a curve, slider and change to round out his arsenal. He has performed at each stop and moved fairly quick."

The Brewers previously added outfielder Tyrone Taylor to their 40-man roster after a big season at Class AAA Colorado Springs. 

The top-rated prospect the Brewers opted not to protect was first baseman Jake Gatewood, a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick in 2014 who was an all-star at Biloxi last season. He slugged 19 homers with 59 RBI in 94 games before a torn ACL ended his year. 

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