Pirates trade Troy Stokes Jr., Jandel Gustave to Brewers for Samuel Escudero

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a trade today, sending prospects Troy Stokes Jr. and Jandel Gustave, who were both at Indianapolis, to the Milwaukee Brewers for Samuel Escudero, a 17-year-old catcher prospect.

Stokes has played in just 8 Major League games this season in which he batted just .111, and he hasn’t been much better at Indianapolis, hitting just .169 down there. The Pirates had obviously seen enough of the 25-year-old outfielder.

Relief pitcher Gustave was throwing pretty well at Indy with a 1-0 record in 13 appearances. He had a 3.60 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 15 innings pitched. The 28-year-old has been the in majors three times, combining for 44 innings over two seasons with the Houston Astros (2016-2017) and one with the San Francisco Giants (2019) and holding a 1-0 record with a 3.43 ERA.

As for Escudero, I personally don’t know much about him (and had trouble finding a scouting report) other than he’ll be heading to the Gulf Coast League team and seems to be known as a good hitter, but at just 17-years-old, he’s obviously a long-term project. A name to keep tucked away for the future.