Jonathan Schoop

BIOGRAPHY

Jonathan Schoop was born October 16, 1991, in Willemstad, Curaçao. He is a second baseman in the MLB.

Before he became a major leaguer, he played in the 2003 and 2004 Little League World Series for Curaçao. Schoop was signed by the Baltimore Orioles as a free agent in 2008. In 2011, Schoop along with Manny Machado represented the Orioles at the 2011 All-Star Futures Game. He was awarded the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year, given to the best player in the Orioles minor league system. During his minor league career, Schoop was primarily a shortstop.

Prior to the 2012 season, Schoop was ranked by Baseball America as the Orioles' third-best prospect and the 82nd-best overall.

Through July 2, 2017, Schoop compiled a .297/.352/.545 batting line with 16 homers, 23 doubles, 45 runs scored, 51 RBIs and 1.7 WAR, earning him a trip to the 2017 MLB All-Star Game. In the All-Star Game, Schoop doubled and scored the first run of the game in the fifth inning. Schoop played in 160 games for the Orioles in 2017, compiling a slash line of .293/.338/.503 with 32 homers and 105 runs batted in. He had career-highs in average, on-base, slugging, OPS, OPS+, plate appearances, at-bats, runs scored, hits, home runs and RBI. He placed 12th in the American League MVP voting.

On February 5, 2021, Schoop re-signed with the Tigers on a one-year, $4.5 million contract. During the 2021 season, Schoop played more games at first base (114) than his natural second base position (38). This was due to the struggles and subsequent demotion of Renato Núñez, as well as Miguel Cabrera being frequently used as a designated hitter.

On August 7th, 2021, Schoop signed a two-year, $15 million contract extension with the Detroit Tigers, with a clause allowing a mutual opt-out after the 2022 season. For the 2021 season, Schoop hit .278 with 22 home runs and a team-leading 84 RBI. He also finished top 10 in games played by position players in the MLB, with 156.

Schoop returned to playing mostly at second base in the 2022 season. On May 30, 2022, Schoop had a three-hit game against the Minnesota Twins that included his 1,000th career hit, a double off starter Dylan Bundy. Schoop is one of three players from Curaçao to reach 1,000 major league hits, joining Andruw Jones and Andrelton Simmons.

In 2022 he batted .202(the lowest batting average in the AL of all qualified batters)/.239(the lowest OBP in the majors)/.322. His .561 OPS was the lowest in the majors. He had the highest percentage of softly hit balls of all major leaguers (24.1%).