Baltimore Orioles’ All-Stars are bright spots in future of uncertainty
By Nate Wardle
Despite a dark first half for the Baltimore Orioles, a few bright spots emerged including Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop selected to the 2017 MLB All-Star game and prospects featured in the All-Star Future Games.
Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop is the lone All-Star from the Orioles baseball team with prospects Tanner Scott and Chance Sisco providing hope to the organization in the All-Star Future Games.
In short, pitching prospect Scott followed Tampa Bay Rays’ minor league star Brett Honeywell (game MVP), budding Chicago White Sox flame-thrower Michael Kopech and Beau Burrows, a Detroit Tigers prospect to the mound in the fifth inning.
This was also the last inning that Sisco was behind the plate, allowing him to catch a guy who hopefully will one day be a battery mate.
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Scott struck out the first two batters on nasty sliders before allowing a single to Vladimir Guerrero Jr., son of former Oriole Vladimir Guerrero and a prospect for the Blue Jays. Guerrero moved up to second base on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Josh Naylor. However, Naylor was thrown out at second base to end the inning.
Scott threw 21 pitches, with 12 of them for strikes. For a guy who has struggled with walks, that isn’t the best ratio, but Scott was frequently in the upper 90s, with one pitch even reaching 100.5 miles per hour.
So, as the Orioles’ season takes a bit of a break for the Midsummer Classic, it is important to realize there is some solid young talent on the team and with the affiliates. We haven’t discussed guys like Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle, Hunter Harvey, Keegan Akin and others here.
We also haven’t talked about the Orioles’ All-Star, Jonathan Schoop. Frankly, we have talked a lot about our dear second baseman.
So, I’m not going to rehash it here in detail. But, Schoop has had a fantastic year for the Orioles. Walks are up, strikeouts down, power is up, all excellent indications.
While the Orioles are in a tough place right now, there are individual performances that are standing out.
The two Oriole prospects who took part in the Futures Game showed they deserved to be there.
Next: The Baltimore Orioles are blowing it, both now and for the future
If Schoop’s first half play is any indication, he just might show the entire baseball world how good he is on Tuesday night.