In recent years, the Baltimore Orioles have done a great job of balancing their lineup out with a mix of young talent and veteran presence. The veterans, namely Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and now Mark Trumbo, are spread throughout the outfield. The youth is mainly concentrated in the infield. The rise of Manny Machado has been great for the club and we finally got to see what he could do when grave injuries were not a factor in 2015. Ryan Flaherty is waiting in the wings to supplant J.J. hardy at SS. Then there’s Jonathan Schoop, the 24-year-old 2B who has shown great promise in 228 Major League games and 817 PA.

2015 Year in Review

While Schoop spent a good amount of time in the Orioles’ farm system, he was able to make the necessary adjustments quickly and start off on the right foot at the Major League level. In 2014, his first full season was quite productive. Schoop was sort of thrown into the fire as the O’s made a deep postseason run, getting swept by the Kansas City Royals in the ALCS. His first near-full regular season yielded 16 home runs and 45 RBI in 137 game. The 16 home runs are fantastic. The 45 RBI? Less than inspiring. Now it’s important to note that Schoop did all of this while hitting an extremely subpar .209. Imagine what could have been with a bit more plate discipline.

In 2015, Schoop came close to reproducing his 2014 numbers in almost half the amount of time. It took Schoop just 86 games to fall one home run short of his 2014 total (15) and six RBI short of his 2014 total (39). A knee injury required a trip to the disabled list in April was tough to swallow and a hand injury in September cut his season short, but there is no telling where Schoop would have ended up; he was on pace for close to 30 home runs.

A .788 OPS and a .203 ISO were not too shabby, showing us that there is a high power potential. However, his K% of 24.6% was sky high and even though it was down slightly from 25.4% in 2014, many signs point towards Schoop being an all-or-nothing kind of offensive player. Looking at all of this, we need a little bit more to figure out whether or not he is the kind of guy that we can trust to produce in an enigmatic group of fantasy 2B in 2016.

Schoop came back from the disabled list in July and instantly heated up. By the end of the season, a whopping .329 BABIP showed excellent power. Additionally, Schoop was able to increase his Hard% to 34.5%, which was up from 26.0% in 2014. This almost certainly led to his elevated BABIP but more so, his decently high HR/FB of 17.4. Not bad for a second-year player.

2016 Fantasy Outlook

Camden Yards is a hitter’s dream and with desirable measurements, any batter in the O’s lineup has some flexibility. The right foul pole measures at a mere 318 feet and the left foul pole measures only 333 feet. At 364 feet to left center, 373 feet to right center, and 410 feet to dead center, there are a ton of options. In his young career, Jonathan Schoop has shown the ability to move the ball around. While his spray chart shows most of his home runs collecting in right field, Schoop only pulled 43.2% of his balls in 2015. He hit 31.0% to center field, and even more impressive, 25.8% to left field. Combined with an environment that is ideal for offensive growth, Schoop should be able to diversify his hitting profile in 2016. Some of the towering fly balls to right field may turn into home runs, and the line drives to center that were singles in 2015 may become doubles in 2016.

Overall, 2015 was quite disappointing for the O’s. After reintroducing themselves to the ALCS for the first time in 16 years in 2014, they came crashing down in 2015. With never-ending questions about the rotation and the uncertainty revolving around Chris Davis’ contract situation mounting, the outlook heading into the offseason was grim. Today, rotation is still in flux but Chris Davis is locked up for seven years; definitely a little bit better. The addition of Mark Trumbo will surely help, but Baltimore might have an even more threatening source of power in the young  Schoop. All he needs is time, and breakout potential is written all over the wall.

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