Despite shaky second half, Jonathan Schoop had a solid season

Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop turned 25 yesterday. The native of Willemstad, Curacao, is that rare international amateur signed by the club that made the majors. He is also entrenched as the Orioles' starting second baseman for at least the next few seasons, it would seem. And maybe well beyond that.

After a sprained right knee in April 2015 limited him to 86 games and 321 plate appearances that year, Schoop played in every game last season with 647 plate appearances.

The heavy load of games seemed to work against him as he appeared to tire in the second half and his stats took a dive after the All-Star Game.

Schoop in the first half: .304 average, .338 OBP, .509 slugging, .847 OPS.
Schoop in the second half: .225 average, .252 OBP, .391 slugging, .643 OPS.

While Schoop ended the regular season going 8-for-18, he hit just .181 with an OBP of .209 in September.

Here is a look at Schoop over the last three years. His numbers took a leap up in 2015, but dropped a bit in 2016.

Schoop in 2014: .209 average, .244 OBP, .354 slugging, .598 OPS, 65 OPS+
Schoop in 2015: .279 average, .306 OBP, .482 slugging, .788 OPS, 110 OPS+
Schoop in 2016: .267 average, .298 OBP, .454 slugging, .752 OPS, 96 OPS+

This season, 64 of Schoop's hits went for extra bases, with 38 doubles, one triple and 25 homers. His 164 hits, 82 runs scored, doubles and homers totals, 21 walks and 82 RBIs set career highs. Schoop was ninth in the American League in doubles. His 55 home runs as a second baseman since the beginning of 2014 rank sixth in the major leagues. In his career, the Orioles are 41-12 in games in which he homers.

Schoop's walk rate increased a touch from 2.8 percent to 3.2 percent last year, but that was still among the lowest in the AL. His strikeout rate dropped from 24.6 to 21.2 percent. In something known as hard-contact rate from Baseball Info Solutions, Schoop's rate dropped from 35.8 percent in 2015 to 26.6 percent last season.

Schoop's big first half might have put him in All-Star consideration except the second base position was stacked this year in the AL. Players like Robinson Cano, Jose Altuve, Brian Dozier and Ian Kinsler all had big years to name just four others.

But Schoop's falloff in the second half was such that his stats for the season dropped from 2015 to 2016. I don't see a major cause for concern there because sometimes young players take a step or two back along the way to reaching their ceiling. Schoop has room for growth. While he is never likely to show too much in the OBP department, like many young players, he needs to cut down on chasing pitches.

But the guy has some impressive raw power and hits some long homers. He's very solid defensively at second base and continues to bring his daily smile and youthful enthusiasm to the Orioles clubhouse. He is also under team control for three more seasons and cannot be a free agent until after the 2019 season.

What is your scoop on Schoop? How did you feel about his 2016 season? How do you see his future potential?