Zach Wilt: Schoop drawing comparisons to game's top second basemen

Power hitting second basemen are the quite the commodity in Major League Baseball. Most teams hope to get solid defense and above average offense from that position; adding some pop is a huge bonus. Jonathan Schoop is one of the few who provides both, a great glove in the middle of the diamond and 20-plus home run power.

In his third full season in the big leagues at age 24, Schoop has homered 18 times for the Orioles and is on pace to finish the season with 25. The Birds second baseman is slashing .280/.312/.473 and ranks third on the team in OPS (.786) behind Manny Machado and Mark Trumbo. His importance at the dish was highlighted during the Orioles' comeback win in San Francisco on Sunday, when Schoop belted a three-run blast off Giants closer Santiago Casilla in the ninth to give the O's an 8-7 lead and eventually secure a winning series. The homer was Schoop's 50th of his young career and it couldn't have come at a more clutch time for his ballclub.

Only seven second basemen in baseball history have hit more than 40 home runs in their age 22-24 seasons. Schoop ranks fourth on that list with one more than seven-time All-Star Robinson Cano. A comparison to Cano, one of the greats at the position, is quite the honor for Schoop, and it's probably not the first time he's heard it. "Based on what he's doing now, I could see him reaching a Cano level," O's closer Zach Britton told ESPN.com's Eddie Matz this week. "When I watch him play, I think he could be a Robinson Cano type player."

The "Cano level" is the top of the position. When you compare a second baseman to Robinson Cano you're comparing him to a guy who has five Silver Sluggers, three Gold Gloves and an .851 career OPS. Cano has homered at least 20 times in seven of his 12 seasons in the big leagues and he's recorded at least 25 homers in six of those 12. The guy is the power hitting second baseman. In seven of the last eight years, Cano has been worth at least four wins above replacement (Baseball Reference). He was an 8.4 win player in 2012 and 7.8 in 2013. Only Mike Trout was more valuable in the American League.

Defensively, Cano's career has been all over the map. This season he's recorded nine defensive runs saved, ranking second at his position behind Dustin Pedroia (10). Last year however was the complete opposite, -9. The advanced metrics tell us that Schoop has been similar with 10 DRS in 2014, but -3 last season. In 2016, he's sitting at an average 0 DRS and 0.4 dWAR. Still, the potential is there for Schoop's defense and Orioles fans see it every day, specifically when it comes to turning two.

Schoop has been a part of 83 double plays this season, one shy of his career-high in 2014. He's tied for third among AL second basemen in that particular category. Turning those ground balls into two outs so consistently is probably the reason why Britton says that Schoop has "arguably the best arm on the team." It's hard to disagree with those results. Plus, Britton's 80.4 percent ground ball rate, the best in baseball by a wide margin, gives him plenty of chances to watch Schoop work his magic at second.

The sky is the limit for Schoop's career. I was glad to see him get a few plate appearances under his belt in October 2014. He was an important part of the Orioles' three-game sweep of the Tigers in the ALDS when he picked up three hits, scored two runs and drove in two. Getting that postseason experience is important, especially for a player so young. You've got to be optimistic about what you've seen from him in his first three full seasons at this level. I'm excited to see what the future holds for this future All-Star.

Zach Wilt blogs about the Orioles at Baltimore Sports Report. Follow him on Twitter: @zach_wilt. His views appear here as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our pages. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.