Schoop has spent the entire 2013 in Triple-A, hitting .268/.331/.368 on the season. I noted before the year that this was a make-or-break year for Schoop to prove that he could hit right-handed pitching more consistently, but even after a strong fall league and a solid World Baseball Classic, he still has yet to prove he can consistently hit same-handed pitching.
So far this season in a limited sample of games, Schoop has kept with his career trends:
The limited sample from this year wouldn't be enough to make the determination on it's own, but when pared with his totals from last year's dramatic splits...
This injury has little to do with his on-field production and shouldn't prohibit the Orioles from calling him up later in the season if they choose to do so, but for now, Schoop will take a week off and rest his ailing back.
Graham left his last start after just two innings, but doctors were unable to identify what in his right shoulder was giving him issues. Due to the ambiguity of his injury, there is no current timetable for his return.
It's logical to question how long Graham has been having issues with his shoulders, given his struggles over his last two starts. Graham hadn't been dominant all year, but prior to his seventh start on the season in May 8th, he had a 3.41 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 29 innings. In his two starts since then, however, he struck out just three batters in seven innings. Obviously the sample size is ridiculously small, but a drop in strikeout rates can sometimes be due to a drop in velocity which could be due to discomfort in his shoulder.
Of course, it could also just be a coincidence.
Either way, Graham is out for the time being until the Braves can get a better grip on what is wrong with his arm. Given that it's a shoulder issue, the Braves will likely handle him conservatively, especially until they can figure out exactly what is causing his discomfort.
Jonathan Schoop's three-hit day, which included his third home run of the season, was just a part of the offensive onslaught put forth by his Orioles teammates in their 14-1 drubbing on Sunday. Schoop is now hitting .349 over his past 10 games, but still just .268 on the season.
Nick Franklin hit a go-ahead home run in the 13th inning to seal the deal for his Mariners teammates on Sunday. For Franklin it was part of a 3.for-6 day that saw his batting average rise to .349 as he continues to make his case for a call-up.
Anthony Rendon had a perfect game at the plate, one which included his fourth home run of the season, and the Nationals prospect is now hitting .452 (14-for-31) since his return to the minors.
Jesus Aguilar hit his fourth home run of the season as part of a day in which he reached base three times. The Indians first base prospect has struggled to carry his 2012 success over into the Double-A level this year and is slugging just .381 on the season.
Anthony Ranaudo advanced to 5-1 on the season as the Red Sox prospect tossed six shutout innings while striking out five. The outing lowered his ERA to 1.38 on the season.
On-base magician Mike O'Neill reached safely three more times on Sunday, collecting a pair of hits and a walk. The Cardinals outfielder is now hitting .340 on the season with a .489 on-base percentage.
High-A
Clayton Blackburn struggled for the third straight start as the Giants prospect allowed five runs (four earned) in four innings. Blackburn has now allowed at least four runs in three consecutive outings after not allowing more than two in any of his first four starts.
After struggling in Triple-A this season and Double-A last season, Angels prospect Orangel Arenas is back in the California League and turned in a dominant start in his first outing, allowing just one run in seven innings.
Low-A
In a crazy offensive day, the Twins got impressive performances at the plate from two of their top picks from last year's draft. Byron Buxton, the second overall pick, went 4-for-7 to raise his batting average to .352 on the year, but he was outdone by third-rounder Adam Brett Walker, who went 4-for-6 with two doubles and two home runs.
After a strong WBC, Jonathan Schoop has gotten off to a rough start to the 2013 regular season (and for some reason the Orioles are allowing Norfolk to bat him 8th), but he did hit his first home run on Friday night.
Kyle McPherson, thought to be in the running to possibly take the spot of Wandy Rodriguez in the Pirates major league rotation, allowed seven earned runs without getting out of the second inning, taking him out of consideration both for rest reasons as well as how poorly he threw.
Fellow Diamondbacks short stop prospects Didi Gregorius and Chris Owings each had a three-hit game on Friday. Owings is getting the full share of playing time at short stop for the time being as Gregorius recovers from an arm injury and is serving as the DH.
After missing the entire 2012 with a shoulder injury and a rough first start, Chad Bettis put together a solid outing, as the Rockies prospect struck out six batters over five innings of one-run ball.
High-A
Tyler Naquin continued his red-hot start to the year, collecting two more hits to raise his batting average to .367 on the young season. The Indians jumped Naquin directly from short-season ball to the Carolina League this year, but the jump hasn't fazed the former first-rounder.
Kyle Crick struck out six batters in 3 2/3 innings, but didn't get any help from his Giants teammates behind him, whose defense led to four unearned runs.
Low-A
Bubba Starling hit his first home run of the year. The Royals outfielder still has issues with contact, however, having struck out in 15 of his 32 at-bats on the season.
Stetson Allie is off to a great start to his first full season as a hitter, hitting his third home run of the season as part of a two-hit day that saw his batting average rise to .343. Josh Bell recorded a four-hit game as well.
Instead of getting to watch Travis d'Arnaud, Buffalo fans will get Anthony Gose, who returns to Triple-A. He can be very exciting to watch, but the reason he's back there is to work on hitting lefties.
Simon Castro, Andre Rienzo, and Charlie Leesman make for an interesting rotation, and Jared Mitchell can be exciting in the outfield. Trayce Thompson will provide some power, but will have to cut down on the swins and misses if he wants to be able to use it in the majors.
Perhaps no prospect in the IL will be more polarizing than Trevor Bauer, who is working on new mechanics. How much time he spends in Columbus will depend on how well he takes to the changes.
The Bulls feature a starting rotation that may actually be better than some of the bottom-end major league rotations, including prospects Chris Archer, Jake Odorizzi, Mike Montgomery, and Alex Colome. They also feature Wil Myers in the outfield, one of the best hitting prospects in the minors, and former first overall pick Tim Beckham.
Despite graduations to the majors and trades, the Braves still have some talent in Triple-A. Former first-rounder Sean Gilmartin headlines the rotation while Joey Terdoslavich should be the team's most potent hitter while learning to play the outfield.
The best player in the IL, and certainly the best pitcher, should be Gerrit Cole, who won't be in the league too long after Memorial Day. Tony Sanchez will get one more chance to prove he's more than a backup catcher and Kyle McPherson will stay ready for when the Pirates need pitching depth in the majors.
Darin Ruf will try to back up his breakout 2012 season while also trying to learn how to play a non-disastrous outfield. Ethan Martin has an exciting arm and will try to stick as a starter, and Tommy Joseph has leaped over Sebastian Valle on the organizational depth chart behind the plate. Plus they have video game urinals in the men's rooms.
The Reds say that Billy Hamilton will spend the entire season in Louisville so he can learn the nuances of center field, but we'll all believe it when we see it. Tony Cingrani will work as a starter in the minors, but he'll get called up to bolster the Reds bullpen at some point in the season.
This team is all about Jonathan Schoop for the time being, at least until Dylan Bundy gets promoted and Shoop gets overshadowed within his own organization once again.
Allen Webster would have been the talk of Red Sox spring training had it not been for Jackie Bradley, and he should be the talk of Pawtucket with his power arm. It will also be interesting to see how Bryce Brentz comes back from shooting himself in the leg, literally.
Kyle Gibson will get his arm in shape and work on regain his command post-Tommy John surgery until he gets the call from the Twins. Oswaldo Arcia is a talented but still raw outfielder who factors into the Twins rebuilding plans.
Beware of errant fastballs from Dellin Betances, who returns to Triple-A after a disastrous stretch there last season. Melky Mesa was in the running to fill in for Curtis Granderson but needs to refine his offensive game.
I give Nick Castellanos a hard time, but he's still the Tigers best prospect. He'll be working on his outfield defense. Bruce Rondon will be closing games for the Mud Hens and working on his command in hopes he can close games in the majors this fall.
That term may be a little strong - Jonathan Schoop is in no danger of being released after ths season, no matter how poorly it may go - but the Baltimore Orioles top remaining position prospect is entering the 2013 season at a crossroads in his career, with two very different paths in front of him.
Entering the 2012 season, Schoop was mentioned in the same breath as fellow prospect Manny Machado, perhaps not for having the same level of talent or high ceiling, but for being the pair that was the future of the Orioles. That future for the Orioles at the major league level arrived sooner than anyone had expected, and Machado rode a parallel wave of success right to the middle of the storm, finishing the season in the majors and in the playoffs. Schoop, on the other hand, took a step back in his development, finishing the season right where it started, in Double-A Bowie, and with disappointing numbers to show for his ability and potential.
Schoop is still the same talented player he was this time last year. A right-handed hitter with the potential for above-average power and the ability to play all three infield positions, Schoop is still oozing with the kind of potential that put him near the top of most Orioles prospect lists simply because that isn't a combination of talents often seen from a 21-year-old just coming off of a full season in Double-A.
But it was that season, last year's season, that brings to light questions about Schoop's game that were not nearly concerns of this magnitude this time last year.
Schoop has always been an aggressive hitter, but facing advanced pitching for the first time in his career, that aggressiveness was exposed more than ever before. Schoop actually posted the highest walk rate of his career last season, but still at just 9 percent, it's likely that he'll never walk enough to get on base a ton without hitting his way on. Additionally, the more patient approach led to a career-high strikeout rate of 18.6 percent, causing his batting average to drop to just .245.
The drop in average wasn't helped by a little bit of bad luck. Schoop posted a BABIP of .282 in 2012, down from the slight good luck he had in 2011 when he posted a BABIP of .318. Realistically, however, neither is far enough away from the norm to have had a drastic impact.
The good news is that Schoop posted a career high line drive rate last season of 17 percent. Batted ball data in the minors isn't extremely reliable, especially from level to level thanks to human error, but an increase of over 4 percent from one year to the next signifies that ther was at least some improvement in the number of balls Schoop hit hard.
The bad news is that, for the second straight season, Schoop showed a massive platoon split, which, as a right-handed hitter, can often be the difference between being a regular and a bench player in the majors.
After having a significant, but not overwhelming, split in 2011, when he hit .316/.381/.467 against lefties but .279/.335/.409 against righties (124 points difference in OPS), the difference got even more pronounced against better competition. In Double-A last season, Schoop hit .310/.401/.503 against lefties but just .216/.289/.330, a 285 point difference in OPS.
So what does all of this mean?
For starters, there's no reason to panic. Yet. That's what makes this a make or break year.
If Schoop turns in another season with a batting average hovering around .250 and an on-base percentage around .320, without some kind of dramatic spike in power, then it will be time to worry. But he'll be just 21 for the entire 2013 season, so there's still plenty of time to get things headed back in the right direction.
But there are still two very different potential directions for Schoop's career. The significant platoon splits have to improve in order for him to ever be a regular player in the big leagues. If he were left-handed, it wouldn't be as big of an issue, but with right-handed pitchers occupying big league mounds roughly two-thirds of the time, Schoop would be a below-average hitter in way too many of his at-bats to warrant regular playing time.
The good news for the Orioles is that, even if the platoon splits never improve, Schoop should still have value in the majors. He may not be able to hit right-handed pitching, but he crushes left-handed pitching. Additionally, a utility player with the ability to handle shortstop is very valuable when it comes to roster building, in that it means the Orioles won't have to keep a Cesar Izturis-type player simply as a backup shortstop. Schoop could also probably learn to handle a corner outfield spot without too much trouble, giving him additional value.
I'm not sentencing Schoop to bench-duty just yet. He's still young and talented, and has good power for a middle infielder. He'll likely never be a great hitter against right-handed pitching, but if he can improve and become average against them, he does enough other things (like hit for power, play numerous positions, etc.) to have a lot of value.
But this season should tell us which path Schoop will take. If he continues to struggle against Double-A right-handers the way he did in 2012, it's likely he'll never be able to make enough of an improvement to ever have hope of being a regular in the majors. Even as a platoon-utility man, Schoop will have a nice major league career, but as the best position prospect in a barren Orioles farm system, a lot of their future success is tied to his development this season.
