Jonathan Schoop, 2015 Topps Chrome #32

Are you ready for Opening Day? (Two weeks to go!) Here in my humble home, we're doing our level best. Season tickets arrived on our doorstep on Tuesday; for the sixth consecutive season, my sister and I have two seats on a 29-game plan. That means we'll be at Oriole Park at Camden Yards when the O's face the Twins on March 29th. We bought two extra tickets for the opener, so that Janet and my dad can join us as well...and naturally, Finn will be there too, since he's still young enough that he won't need his own seat.

Nobody is doing more to gear up for the 2018 season than our near-21-month-old. Finn's vocabulary has been exploding lately, and some of his favorite new words and phrases are: baseball ("BEEBAW!"), Orioles (and "Oriole hat" - he always wants to wear one of his caps or our replica batting helmet), and "Let's go O's!". That last one comes out sounding like "oh-oh-O's!", but he'll get the hang of it. Any time he sees a piece of Birds memorabilia, he excitedly exclaims one or more of the above phrases. It doesn't even have to include the cartoon bird logo; as long as it's orange and black, he knows the deal. We've indoctrinated - I mean, taught - him right.

A few weeks ago, we even bought Finn his first player tee shirt. It features Jonathan Schoop's name and number six, and it fits him just right. Here he is wearing it in tandem with Janet's adjustable O's cap last weekend, when we met Janet's sister for dinner at Heavy Seas Ale House. He is ready for some beebaw.

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Bowman Chrome #7

I might not officially be a father for another five days or so, but I had a very enjoyable first Fathers' Day today. My wonderful wife Janet treated me to a breakfast of scrambled eggs, along with apple cider donuts from Weber's Farm. Then my sister and I took our dad to Camden Yards, where the Orioles won the rubber game against the Blue Jays in a less-than-tidy three and a half hours, out-slugging Toronto in an 11-6 final. Baltimore pounded out a season-high 19 hits, including Matt Wieters' 4-for-5, four RBI performance. Three other O's had three hits apiece: Hyun-Soo Kim, Chris Davis, and Jonathan Schoop. Schoop had the most impressive hit on the day, a towering 458-foot two-run home run off of Jesse Chavez in the bottom of the seventh inning. His blast reached the recessed seating beyond the concrete walkway in the lower deck in left field, which nobody seems to recall happening before. Chris Tillman wasn't at his best, allowing a pair of two-run homers in the second inning, but he stopped the bleeding there and cleared five innings to earn his tenth win against just one loss. Oh, and my father and I got these snazzy newsboy caps, a fine promotional giveaway if there ever was one:

So Happy Fathers' Day to all of the current dads and dads-to-be out there.

Jonathan Schoop, 2013 Bowman Platinum Prospects Purple Refractor #BPCP100

The Orioles have won seven straight games for the second time this season, after managing two seven-game streaks total in the previous 16 seasons. Does that mean anything? Probably not, but it's fun. I was at tonight's game, and you can't ask for much more than seven innings of two-run, three-hit ball from Mike Wright, topped off with four O's home runs over the last three innings. Jonathan Schoop went deep twice, including his second career grand slam. Somebody pinch me.

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Bowman #128

Baseball is back! In Florida and Arizona, at least. Pitchers and catchers reported to O's camp in Sarasota today, as did the overachieving types among infielders and outfielders. The double-play combo of Jonathan Schoop and J. J. Hardy were present today, as both are hoping to rebound from injury-marred 2015 seasons. Today it seems possible. Hope and optimism reign.

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Topps Heritage #49

We're three weeks into July, and the Orioles just got their first series win of the month with a 9-3 win over the Tigers in today's rubber match. Jonathan Schoop's three-run homer off of Justin Verlander highlighted a six-run fourth inning, as the O's chased the former Cy Young and MVP after just 3.2 innings of work. There were still plenty of tense moments; the Tigers and Orioles each had 14 hits, but Baltimore reversed their recent fortune by going 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Detroit went 3-for-12 and stranded 13 runners, compared to five left on base for the Birds. If the O's are going to make a move in the second half, Schoop could be a big part of it. He missed two and a half months with a knee injury, but has hit six home runs in only 18 games (62 plate appearances). He also made a number of dazzling defense plays in this weekend's series, further bolstering the team's already strong collection of gloves. Now the Orioles head to Yankee Stadium with a razor-thin hold on second place in the American League East, hoping to cut into New York's four-game division lead. Buckle up.

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Panini Donruss #268

The good news: there was an Orioles game today. The bad news: they got smoked by Detroit, 15-2, with Ubaldo Jimenez failing to complete two innings. The good news: It doesn't count. If the season started today, I'd go out on a limb and say that Buck Showalter wouldn't have written out this lineup:

1. SS Everth Cabrera
2. 2B Jonathan Schoop
3. RF Nolan Reimold
4. DH Matt Tuiasosopo
5. LF Travis Snider
6. 3B Jimmy Paredes
7. C J. P. Arencibia
8. CF David Lough
9. 1B Christian Walker

Yep, that's a Grapefruit League away game lineup if ever I saw one. But Opening Day is a month from Friday!

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Topps Green #83

Was your Memorial Day as good as Jonathan Schoop's? The rookie second baseman had a pair of solo home runs to help the Orioles rally from a 6-3 seventh-inning deficit. His second round-tripper came with two outs in the ninth off of Milwaukee closer Francisco Rodriguez, closing the gap to 6-5. Delmon Young followed with a pinch single, and Nick Markakis doubled in pinch runner David Lough with the tying run. In the tenth inning, a J. J. Hardy double was followed by a run-scoring single by new O's catcher Nick Hundley to cap the comeback. But the Birds never would've gotten to that point without Schoop's pair of big late-inning hits.

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Topps Opening Day #186

Jonathan Schoop is starting to look more comfortable in the major leagues. Last night, he hit a tie-breaking homer in the Orioles' 4-3 win over the Rays. The rookie followed up tonight with an RBI single in the team's 3-1 win in Tampa, securing the series sweep. Manny Machado's return has allowed Schoop to settle in at second base, where he seems better acclimated than he was at third. It's nice to have that position not look like a giant question mark after all these years.

Jonathan Schoop, 2014 Panini Donruss #37

I know it's been out for a while, but last night was the first time that I had spotted Panini's new Donruss-themed cards for sale at one of my nearby Target stores. At a hefty $2.99 for an eight-card pack, I contented myself with two packs and called it a night. I actually rather like the design, with the strip of baseballs in the center of the border evoking the 1987 Donruss set. But the team colors are an improvement over its predecessor. Oddly enough, the white border and the city and player name on the bottom make me think of 1978 Topps more than anything else. As you can see, I pulled a card of young Jonathan Schoop, who has a very good chance to be the Orioles' starting second baseman when the season begins in nine days. The single best thing about this set might be the return of our old friend, the Rated Rookie subset. We missed you...or at least I did. If I was only going to get one hometown player out of my packs, Schoop may have been the one to get. I wouldn't say these are exactly worth the price tag, but it's worth grabbing a few impulse packs for the novelty of it all.

Jonathan Schoop, 2011 Bowman Chrome Prospects #BCP25

Last night's game was full of unexpected treats. The Orioles' makeshift lineup mashed four homers (including a pair from third baseman Ryan Flaherty) and scored nine runs total, the first time the team has tallied more than five runs since putting up seven in back-to-back games on the first and second of September. Bud Norris was shaky at the start, but was bailed out by his offense and the second-tier bullpen combo of T. J. McFarland (the winner), Josh Stinson, Troy Patton, and Jason Hammel (the closer). But it was also a night of firsts for infield prospect Jonathan Schoop. The native of Curacao made his big league debut, starting at second base and batting eighth in front of Flaherty. He had his first hit and run scored in the third inning, singling off of Esmil Rogers and coming home on Flaherty's first dinger. Schoop followed with his first career home run and RBI in the bottom of the sixth, giving the O's a 7-4 lead with a leadoff shot against Kyle Drabek. In his fourth and final plate appearance, the rookie drew his first walk against Jays reliever Ricky Romero. Flaherty again drove him in with a two-run home run, closing out the scoring. Young Jonathan grounded into an inning-ending double play in the fourth frame, but nobody's perfect.

Jonathan Schoop, 2011 Bowman Platinum Prospects Green Refractor #BPP63

Though the Orioles are spending this month focused on the present (that is, catching the Rays and/or Athletics or Rangers while keeping the Indians, Yankees, and Royals at bay), they will also be giving fans a glimpse of the future. With the major league roster limit bumped up from 25 to 40, the O's have recalled infielder Jonathan Schoop (once again, that's pronounced 'scope') from AAA Norfolk. The Curacao-born Schoop was limited to 70 games this year with the Tides due to a lower back injury. His batting line was .256/.301/.396 with nine home runs and 34 RBI, which isn't eye-popping by any stretch of the imagination. But it's worth mentioning that he was a 21-year-old getting his first crack at AAA in a home park that favors pitchers. Is there a chance that Jonathan could be in the mix to be Baltimore's starting second baseman in 2014? It's too soon to say, but in the meantime he might as well get a taste of pennant-race baseball.

Jonathan Schoop, 2011 Bowman Prospects #BP25

As with most minor leaguers that Bowman features, Jonathan Schoop is probably several years away from the majors. But he's also a rarity in the Oriole farm system: an international prospect. Schoop (pronounced Scope) was born in Curacao, which is best known by baseball fans as the native country of outfielder Andruw Jones. He began his pro baseball career with the Birds' Dominican Summer League team in 2009, and performed well stateside last year at age 18. He hit .290 overall at three levels, most notably carrying a .316 average with 11 doubles in 39 games at rookie-level Bluefield. The back of this card tells me that he has a strong arm, without which he probably wouldn't be playing much shortstop. Of course, nothing is etched in stone, and Jonathan has further enhanced his value as a player by logging time at second base, third base, and the outfield. After hitting .316 with a .376 on-base percentage and .514 slugging percentage in 51 games at low-A Delmarva this spring, he was recently promoted to high-A Frederick, where he will continue playing all over the field. (Last year's #1 pick, Manny Machado, will get most of the innings at shortstop.) So far he's holding his own as one of the youngest players in the Carolina League, hitting .289 through his first 11 games with 7 runs scored and 4 driven in. ESPN's Keith Law, whose judgment I trust on these matters, has said that he's getting some early consideration for next year's Top 100 Prospects list. I suppose eventually my first reaction when an Oriole minor league position player gets national attention won't be surprise, but for now I'll just accept it as a happy accident.