Schoop Should be the Starting 2B

I remember a few weeks ago it was a given that Jonathan Schoop was going to be the Orioles everyday 2nd baseman.

Then the Orioles went out and signed Everth Cabrera. Fans speculated that he was brought in to compete with Schoop for the starting 2nd base job. I am not completely sold on that idea.

Don’t get me wrong – I like the Cabrera signing, just not at the expense of Jonathan Schoop.

I believe Cabrera was brought in as a much needed middle infield insurance policy and a contributor off of the bench as a pinch runner. If Schoop fails to continue to develop as a hitter or regresses in his second season, replacing him in the lineup with Cabrera is certainly a viable contingency plan.

Cabrera also serves as an excellent insurance policy for 32 year old shortstop JJ Hardy who has a history of back injuries. I can envision the O’s being proactive with Hardy’s back this season and giving him more scheduled days off and time at DH. The Cabrera signing makes that a lot easier to do.

When it comes to the starting 2nd baseman position, however, the O’s need to give Schoop every opportunity to run away with it. He should only be yanked out of the starting lineup if he proves over an extended period of time that he can’t handle it.

When I look back at his rookie season I feel that he has earned that opportunity. While Schoop’s batting average leaves much to be desired, he managed to hit 16 home runs in 455 at bats. Only two other American League 2nd basemen (Ian Kinsler and Brian Dozier) cleared the fences more times than Schoop, and both players had at least 140 more at bats.

If Schoop would have had an equal number of at bats and continued to hit homeruns at a rate of one every 28.43 at bats he would have ended the season with 21 bombs.

To put that into perspective, Schoop as a 22 year old rookie hit homeruns at a rate in his rookie season that Robinson Cano, who is considered by most to be the premiere offensive 2nd baseman in the majors, didn’t achieve until his 5th season in the league at age 26.

That type of power from such a young player cannot be ignored.

He also finished 4th in the American League amongst 2nd baseman in fielding percentage. Based on how much Buck Showalter values defense, if Schoop shows up every day and contributes with the glove he should see regular at bats.

The biggest factor in Schoop’s struggles as rookie was his inability to recognize the off speed pitch. He chased nearly 50% of the off speed pitches that he saw in 2014. That is an adjustment that young hitters not named Mike Trout typically struggle to make in their first couple of seasons in the big leagues. The quality of a major league caliber off-speed pitch is something you are rarely going to see in the minors. Because of this, Schoop should be given every opportunity to continue to develop against major league pitching.

He was given that chance in 2014 when, despite only hitting .209, he managed to start 126 games. To be fair, Showalter didn’t exactly have a viable alternative but the O’s proved to be competitive with Schoop regularly in the lineup.

While I don’t ever see Schoop winning a batting title, I believe he will gradually improve his batting average to a point of respectability if for no other reason than experience alone. If he can do enough to stay in the lineup, I would not be surprised if by age 25 he developed into a .270-25 homerun type of hitter .

That level of offensive production from the 2nd base position would certainly be worth holding onto.

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