The guy I keep waiting for: Schoop

[Can_of_corn]

How many homers for the O's from 2B? 15+?

I know avg and obp and ops are terrible, but that is a nice number of homers from 2B.

Now that he knows how to hit them at home Schoop should be good for an easy 20 next season.

[ShaneDawg85]

Have to give credit where credit is due, when pitchers make mistakes and leave him stuff to hit, he hits it, and the Yankees keep making mistakes against Jonathan Schoop.

[bobmc]

Have to give credit where credit is due, when pitchers make mistakes and leave him stuff to hit, he hits it, and the Yankees keep making mistakes against Jonathan Schoop.

Yup yup! That had to be a dagger in Girardi's heart as he watched his boy Dellin get rocked by the rookie O! YESSSSSSSSSSSS! :clap3:

[Mendoza Line]

Schoop seems to come up big against really good pitchers. Everyone else...not so much

[gmelson26]

Schoop through a full season about 600 at bats would be 20 home runs and 1.8 WAR. He will be an asset and is helping us now.

Edit: He's got the 3rd highest defensive WAR among 2B in the AL.. in about 30 less than 1 and 2, to boot. (1.3 d WAR between Pedroia and Kinsler)

[Il BuonO]

This is all great, but if you noticed his first two ABs he took a couple pitches before making solid contact. Better approach all around.

Palmer commented that during the 60th celebration Frank got a hold of him to tell him, "You own the first two strikes." Can you imagine having that man and all his knowledge about hitting and not having some of it sink in? Couldn't hurt.

[flyhighbirds]

He's gonna get a lot better over the next few years.

[LookitsPuck]

I hate to say I "told ya so" but please see my post in THIS thread from earlier today. The kid can be a factor for us, even if he doesn't hit much for average or have a high OBP.

Small sample size, Roy. As I posted earlier in this thread, he had a decent little stretch earlier in the year as well. But since then? Been terrible.

All that said, I'd LOVE to be wrong.

[Ruzious]

I hate to say I "told ya so" but please see my post in THIS thread from earlier today. The kid can be a factor for us, even if he doesn't hit much for average or have a high OBP.

Let's hope you'll be saying You told us so after the season is over - not after 1 game in the marathon.

[Redskins Rick]

I love this item in Melewski's column and an interview with Schoop, the Yankee Killer:

Schoop talked about his game-tying homer, his 11th of the year.

"It was exciting for me. Me and Manny were talking about it and finally I said, 'I might go deep on this guy,' and I did it. Was exciting and then Jonesy came up and won the game for us.

"I just believed in myself there. I said, 'I'm going to do something special.' I was talking to Manny and I achieved it."

Schoop leads the Orioles with four homers and 11 RBIs this season against the Yankees.

"I don't know exactly why," he said of that success. "Maybe I put more emphasis or focus. But I need to learn to do that every at-bat. But it's part of baseball and you have to do it whether you are winning or losing."

http://www.masnsports.com/steve-melewski/2014/08/adam-jones-put-me-in-the-right-spot-im-expecting-to-deliver.html

[tettleton14]

It seems like he and Manny are besties.

Interestingly, taking a look at the roster, both are WAY younger than the rest of the guys. Of the guys (non-pitchers) in a dugout on a regular basis, the closest in age is Ryan Flaherty, who was born on July 27, 1986.

Schoop and Machado are both a full 5-6 years younger than that.

Maybe that's also why he's never gone back to triple A. Manny needs someone to relate to.

[Can_of_corn]

It seems like he and Manny are besties.

Interestingly, taking a look at the roster, both are WAY younger than the rest of the guys. Of the guys (non-pitchers) in a dugout on a regular basis, the closest in age is Ryan Flaherty, who was born on July 27, 1986.

Schoop and Machado are both a full 5-6 years younger than that.

Maybe that's also why he's never gone back to triple A. Manny needs someone to relate to.

They also played together in the minor leagues.

[Ruzious]

It seems like he and Manny are besties.

Interestingly, taking a look at the roster, both are WAY younger than the rest of the guys. Of the guys (non-pitchers) in a dugout on a regular basis, the closest in age is Ryan Flaherty, who was born on July 27, 1986.

Schoop and Machado are both a full 5-6 years younger than that.

Maybe that's also why he's never gone back to triple A. Manny needs someone to relate to.

Schoop, Machado, and Cruz seem to be a bit of a clique in the dugout.

Gotta admire Schoop's attitude. He always looks upbeat - even when things aren't going well. He competes hard and realizes he needs to improve - but doesn't mope when things are tough. And he seems to have a lot of self-confidence.

[OFFNY]

Frobby said:

 

The guy I keep waiting for: Schoop

 

o

 

In terms of the discussing the guy that we all keep waiting for to come around offensively, I posted this in another Schoop thread.

I pointed out some similarities in the way that Schoop is currently being played by the Orioles to the way that Ron LeFlore was played (force-fed style) in 1974 and 1975, before he finally broke through in a big way in 1976:

 

o

OFFNY said:

o

 

The route that the Orioles are taking with Schoop is somewhat similar to the route that the Tigers took with Ron LeFlore back in 1974, 1975, and 1976.

Like Schoop, LeFlore was "force fed" as a starting position player. LeFlore had hit well at the minor league A-level in '74, but they skipped him over the AA-level, and he only played 9 GAMES at the AAA-level before being promoted to the Tigers that same year ...... as their starting centerfielder.

In that 1974 season, LeFlore was pretty bad offensively. His batting average was decent, but his OBP was only .302, and he struck out a lot.

More of the same occurred in 1975 (decent batting average, but a low OBP, and he struck out a lot.)

In 1976, LeFlore finally broke through, batting .316 with an OBP of .376, stealing 58 bases, and having a memorable 30-game hitting streak.

Additionally, LeFlore cut down on his strikeouts somewhat in 1976, but more significantly, his walk rate improved considerably.

Now ...... I'm not saying that Schoop will necessarily prosper offensively like LeFlore did in his 7-year prime from 1976-1982. And I understand that with LeFlore, the circumstances were different for 2 reasons:

 

A) Those 1974 and 1975 Tigers teams were awful, so the Tigers really didn't have a lot to lose by continually sending LeFlore out there over and over again until he succeeded. The 2014 Orioles, on the other hand, are in 1st place, and have a lot more at stake than did those Tigers teams that LeFlore played on in the mid-1970's.

 

AND

 

B) Leflore had spent several years in prison, and was already 26 years-old when the Tigers promoted him and plugged him into their starting lineup in 1974. Schoop, on the other hand, is only 21 years-old, and he also had a much more extensive minor league career than did LeFlore.

But ......... the force-feeding into the starting lineup of a player that had not hit well at the highest levels of the minors (LeFlore in fact, had virtually no career above the A-level in the minors) is what is similar, and why I find it interesting.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lefloro01.shtml

 

Thanks for bearing with me. 

 

o

[JayThomas]

How do you pull this kind of stuff out? This is amazingly detailed, and reaching back 40 years. Positively Drungo-esqe.