Schoop's return one positive development for Orioles

The Orioles will activate second baseman Jonathan Schoop from the disabled list before tonight's series opener against the Royals that begins an nine-game homestand. The corresponding move could involve utility infielder Engelb Vielma if they decide to keep Jace Peterson on the 25-man roster.

Schoop went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk last night at Single-A Frederick and finished 2-for-13 with six strikeouts on his rehab assignment. He made the decision to play for the Keys instead of taking the night off and returning to Baltimore.

An oblique injury sustained in an April 13 game in Boston forced Schoop onto the disabled list and planted a revolving door at the position. The Orioles were 5-9 after the loss and carry an 8-26 record into tonight's game.

Three wins without Schoop, which doesn't make him the symbol of recovery tonight. He can't do it alone. But he carries a more imposing bat than his replacements and too many regulars aren't producing at the plate.

Manny Machado is batting .346/.430/.623 in 34 games and Mark Trumbo is 7-for-24 with two doubles since coming off the disabled list. Trey Mancini's average is down to .258. He's 9-for-43 (.209) with 15 strikeouts since jamming his right knee into the brick wall at Camden Yards on April 20.

Is there a correlation? It's complicated.

"I don't think so," Mancini said. "When I'm hitting it's not bothering me. I think maybe subconsciously when I came back from the injury. I load a lot on that back leg, my right leg, and I thought I was, but I watched some video and I've been working with Cooley (Scott Coolbaugh) on it, too. But I watched some video and since I've been back I haven't really been loading like I was before.

"I think subconsciously I didn't want to put pressure on it. But again, nothing structurally hurt or anything, and I feel like I can go out there and play to my fullest, so I'm going to do that. That's certainly not the reason why I've been struggling."

Mancini was removed for a pinch-runner Saturday night in Oakland, didn't start the following day and reached as a pinch-hitter on a high chopper in front of the plate. The slump isn't officially done based on an infield single.

"These things happen throughout the course of the season," he said. "It's been tough. It's been really tough. Just as a team, obviously, we've been struggling. It's been a tough road trip, and I think sometimes I just try to do too much myself at the plate, and I think that's more it than anything. I think it's more mental than anything with my knee."

Mancini said the condition of his knee hasn't worsened. He described it as "not too bad."

"It's improved since I came back," he said. "It's not 100 percent, I'd say, but when I'm playing and going after balls and running the bases, I don't think about it at all. It's not feeling too bad, but two days off of it I think will be pretty big. It's obviously a very important part of the body. You use it in every aspect of the game. Just trying to get it back to 100 percent and, hopefully, these two days will do that."

The rest of the averages settle below Mancini's, with Adam Jones batting .245, Schoop .230, Danny Valencia .214, Pedro Álvarez .205, Chance Sisco .203, Anthony Santander .202, Peterson and Craig Gentry .179, Chris Davis .171 and Caleb Joseph .148. Tim Beckham was hitting .179 before going on the disabled list. Colby Rasmus was 2-for-21 with 13 strikeouts.

Put it all together and the Orioles have registered a .220 average that ranks last in the majors. The Marlins are 29th at .226.

The .650 OPS is 29th, ahead of only the Marlins (.626). The 115 runs also are 29th, two more than the Marlins have scored.

A team built for the long ball is tied for 19th with 34 home runs.

The Orioles batted .201 on their six-game trip out west. The opposing starters were Nick Tropeano, Andrew Heaney, Jaime Barria, Daniel Mengden, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Triggs. Let me know how many Cy Young votes they collect after the season.

Schoop had back-to-back two-hit games before the injury. His only home run came on April 3 in Houston. Take away Schoop's seven hits in the Astros series and he's 7-for-48 (.146).

The Orioles' 26 errors were tied for third with the Cubs and Phillies before last night, and the number doesn't reflect all of the ground balls that aren't turned into outs or double plays. Schoop's return to second base could allow manager Buck Showalter to use Peterson more frequently at third.

To keep Álvarez's bat in the lineup against right-handers would require Trumbo to play right field. For whatever reason, Trumbo is a career .280/.337/.522 hitter in right.

The Royals are starting left-handers Danny Duffy and Eric Skoglund in the first two games of the series, which pushes Álvarez to the bench and likely puts Valencia at third base. Left-handers hit .204 against Duffy in his career and they're batting .207 this year. Right-handers are hitting .288.

Schoop is 6-for-15 lifetime against Duffy. Trumbo is 4-for-10 with a home run.

Jones is 2-for-23 with nine strikeouts, Davis is 1-for-13 with a double and six strikeouts, Machado is 3-for-17 with two doubles and eight strikeouts and Gentry is 0-for-11 with four strikeouts.

Will Schoop represent the only change to the Orioles heading into tonight's game? They made it through the off-day without any firings. The rumors will continue to swirl and gain momentum. Players are unsure what's going to happen, but they don't make it a prime topic of conversation inside the clubhouse.

"You try not to think about it," Mancini said. "It's certainly not anything that we've talked about. We come in here and do the same thing every day and try to win a game. Like they've always done here and like we did throughout last year. So no, nobody talks about that. We haven't really had too many conversations about that.

"You hope not. It's kind of tough to explain exactly what's gone wrong, but it's obviously been pretty tough for us and we're trying to break out of it. Hopefully, we can get it going here."