Orioles: The Progression of Jonathan Schoop and Caleb Joseph

Apr 10, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop (6) celebrates with catcher Caleb Joseph (36) after hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Toronto Blue Jays defeated Baltimore Orioles 12-5. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Helping the Baltimore Orioles to accomplish nine wins in the past 12 games has been the progression of Jonathan Schoop and Caleb Joseph. Each has been great with the glove and arm, and their offensive contributions have been effective as well.

Right now, Schoop is hitting .299 on 32-for-107 on the season, contributing seven home runs and 15 RBIs. Since his return from the extended injury rehab, he is batting .313. And over the past five games he is 9-for-17.

A couple of weeks ago I had written an article on the topic of whether Schoop had the possible upside potential to become the next Manny Machado as he gains similar cumulative experience. My answer to the question was that, yes, this is very possible. The opinion generated some negative response, with one commenter saying, “I guarantee Schoop will hit .220 for the 30 games following his return. I don’t know why Buck likes him so much except for defense.” I hope this fellow does not work in the industry of giving investment advice.

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Turning to Caleb Joseph, his overall season average is now up to .253. Over the past 11 games in which he has played, Joseph is 12-for-33 (.364) with a pair of doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs. The Baseball-Reference.com site takes any number of games you highlight and then annualizes those numbers over a 162-game season. These stats for Joseph would give him 59 homers and 192 RBIs! Yes, yes, sample size … but the point being made here is to simply talk about that sample time to say that he is really playing well.

With Matt Wieters almost surely moving on elsewhere after this season, could Joseph be a worthy replacement as the first-string catcher? Again, the sample size is small, though it could be argued that it will get better for Joseph as he gains more experience. But Joseph hits a home run once in every 29 plate appearances, Wieters does so once in every 30. I think most people would expect that Wieters had much more power by comparison.

There is much more to be considered for a catcher than simply power numbers, but Caleb Joseph has done well. And he has especially performed well defensively. There is not much of a drop-off relative to Wieters, and some might argue for certain stats to be better and for certain pitchers to actually prefer Caleb.

Statistics can be all over the place on Wieters, as evidenced by the confusing nature of his left/right splits which we detailed previously. But it would not seem that he is effective as a designated hitter. The sample size on this is not terribly small — 40 games — and he is batting a mere .200 as a DH. By comparison it is .261 as the catcher.

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