Baltimore Orioles Second Baseman Jonathan Schoop is Sizzling at the Plate
Baltimore Orioles Jonathan Schoop continued his red-hot play Thursday, extending his hit streak to eight games against the Cincinnati Reds as he continues to emerge as one of the top second basemen in the American League.
A bit over 12 years ago, Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop won the Little League World Series Championship with Curacao. Now, he’s exceeding on the Major League Baseball stage and is emerging as one of the best second basemen in baseball.
Schoop, who is in the midst of his fourth full season with the Baltimore Orioles, is coming off the best season of his young and promising career. In 2016, Schoop set career-highs in several categories including home runs (25), RBIs (82), hits (164), runs (82), doubles (38) and the list goes on. Let’s just say Schoop had a breakout season in 2016.
Schoop ended the 2016 regular season on a five-game hit streak where he collected eight hits in 18 at-bats. However, in 2017, Schoop failed to extend his hit streak and recorded just two hits in his first 19 at-bats.
| Date | Opp | Rslt | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 3 | TOR | W,3-2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | |
| Apr 5 | TOR | W,3-1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .143 | .143 | .286 | |
| Apr 7 | NYY | W,6-5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 | |
| Apr 8 | NYY | W,5-4 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .154 | .214 | .154 | .368 | |
| Apr 9 | NYY | L,3-7 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .125 | .222 | .125 | .347 | |
| Apr 11 | @ | BOS | L,1-8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .105 | .190 | .105 | .296 |
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Things started to click for the 25-year-old in the series finale against the Boston Red Sox on April 12 when he blasted his first home run of the season, along with two hits and two RBIs to help the Orioles rout the Red Sox 12-5.
In a three-day span (April 12-14), Schoop hit .545 with six hits, four RBIs and two homers to lift the Orioles to a three-game win streak.
Following the three-game win streak, the Orioles dropped two of their next three games, but that didn’t cool off the scorching Schoop who continued to pile up the hits, including his third home run in the Orioles’ 2-1 victory against the Cincinnati Reds.
In addition to the win, the Orioles completed their nine-game road trip, a journey where Schoop’s turnaround commenced. Now, the Orioles return to the beautiful Oriole Park at Camden Yards Friday night when they open a three-game series against AL East division rivals Boston Red Sox.
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With the Orioles next six games at home, the biggest question is if Schoop can continue his recent road success at home?