Baltimore Orioles: Jonathan Schoop the College Senior

By Randy Buchman | Sep 14, 2015

Sep 13, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop (6) hits a solo home run during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

During the ESPN Sunday evening broadcast of the Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City Royals game, Buster Olney did a quick between-innings interview with Buck Showalter. And having been asked about Jonathan Schoop and his future, Buck used a phrase we have locally heard him apply to both the O’s second baseman and Manny Machado. He likes to point out that their ages really would only put them as college seniors if they had chosen to go that route.

Both of these Orioles infielders are indeed way ahead of the game in terms of their age-related expected development. Showalter also likes to talk about how Schoop is like a baby deer who is growing into his fully mature physical frame.

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Schoop had a pair of solo home runs and an additional base hit on Sunday evening to help power the Orioles to an 8-2 victory over the Royals. Adam Jones and Chris Davis also contributed to the barrage with home runs as well. Wei-Yin Chen had an excellent outing for the most part, working all night on the corners of the plate in his seven innings.

Not having command of his pitches, but rather leaving an extraordinary number of pitches down the middle of the plate or high in the zone, was KC starter Johnny Cueto—their presumptive ace. He especially has no clue as to how to get Schoop out. Jonathan is now 4-for-5 off him in his career, with three home runs.

The pair of Schoop homers gives him 14 on the season in 69 games. That translates to a full season total of 33. I am betting we are going to see a number like that if he is healthy for the full season of 2016.

For this current year, Schoop is now hitting .291 … and this is a totally different situation than what we saw at the end of last year where he simply ran out of steam in September. Of course, Schoop does need to be better about pitch selection and cut down on his strikeout total that now stands at 66. This is almost one per game.

Seeing Schoop develop and play for the Orioles over the upcoming years is near the top of the list of what I am looking forward to as a Baltimore fan.

Next: What Goes Around, Comes Around for the O's

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