Jonathan Schoop, Tim Bascom take O's top minor league honors

The Orioles today named Jonathan Schoop as the winner of the Brooks Robinson Award as their minor league Player of the Year. They named pitcher Tim Bascom the winner of the Jim Palmer Award as minor league Pitcher of the Year. The 19-year-old Schoop began the year at Single-A Delmarva and moved to Single-A Frederick in early June. Between those clubs, he hit .290 with 24 doubles, five triples, 13 homers and 71 RBIs in 128 games. Schoop had a .349 on-base percentage, a .432 slugging percentage and OPS of .781 for the year. He played some third base early on at Delmarva and shortstop when Manny Machado was hurt, but then moved to second at Frederick to team with Machado in making up a dynamic and young double play combo. The right-handed hitter from Willemstad, Curacao, elevated his game late in the year for Frederick, batting .321 with four homers and 21 RBIs over the Keys' last 33 regular season games. In nine playoff games, as Frederick won the Carolina League championship, Schoop went 11-for-35 (.314) with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs. He was ranked by Baseball America as the Orioles' 10th-best prospect at the end of last year, when he hit .316 in Rookie League Bluefield and certainly will move way up that list this year. Schoop is a product of the Orioles' international scouting efforts and was signed out of Curacao on Aug. 20, 2008 by scout Ernst Meyer. Bascom went 10-4 with an ERA of 2.97 this year in 30 games, including 18 starts, over 136 1/3 innings. He made one start in May with Frederick, but all the other outings were at Double-A Bowie. For the Baysox, the right-hander was 9-4 with a 3.11 ERA. He actually began the year in the Baysox bullpen but moved into the rotation in mid-June. He was consistent, with an ERA of 3.12 out of the 'pen and 3.11 as a starter. Bascom, the Orioles' fourth-round pick in 2007, had a 110-to-34 strikeout-to-walks ratio and .230 batting average against with the Baysox. When Bowie made a move toward the top of the standings with a strong July, Bascom went 4-0 with an ERA of 1.93 in five starts in the month. He also pitched well down the stretch, with an ERA of 2.25 over his last three starts as Bowie was chasing a playoff berth. The 26-year-old Bascom allowed an average of .227 versus left-handed batters, .232 against right-handed hitters and .255 when pitching with runners in scoring position. Lefty pitcher Cameron Roth has been named this year's recipient of the Elrod Hendricks Minor League Community Service Award. Roth made various appearances to schools and local libraries while playing for Delmarva this season and was often seen signing autographs for fans before and after Shorebirds games. The 22-year old was the Orioles' 29th round selection in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. Frederick Keys Manager Orlando Gomez was named winner of the Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award, presented to a minor league staff member who exemplifies the qualities of the late Oriole who is regarded as the architect of "The Oriole Way." Gomez completed his second season with the Keys (seventh with the Orioles and 48th in professional baseball), guiding the club to its fourth Carolina League championship and best record in franchise history (80-59). Gomez has guided Frederick to the playoffs in both of his seasons and is the winningest manager in Keys history, with a mark of 152-127 (.545). Northeast regional crosschecker Dean Albany was presented the Jim Russo Scout of the Year Award, named in honor of the man who spent 33 years in various scouting capacities with the Orioles, beginning with their move from St. Louis in 1954. Albany completed his 12th season as a scout and three of his signed selections (Steven Bumbry, Mike Flacco and Glynn Davis) contributed to the Keys' championship season. He also signed 10 players from the 2008 draft, including third-rounder LJ Hoes and fifth-rounder Greg Miclat. In addition to his scouting coverage, Albany supervises Youse's Maryland Orioles, the 20-and-under college scout team for the Orioles. The Orioles will recognize the winners tonight before the game with the Red Sox. The Orioles tonight will also recognize the Carolina League champion Frederick Keys along with Delmarva strength and conditioning coach Pat Armstrong, who was named South Atlantic League Co-Strength Coach of the Year in his first season with the Shorebirds (his second season in the organization), and Triple-A Norfolk head athletic trainer Mark Shires, who was named International League Trainer of the Year for the second time (also 2009). Shires is in his fifth season with Norfolk (12th season in the organization). He is currently representing the Orioles as the athletic trainer for the Mesa Solar Sox in the Arizona Fall League.