Entering his age-25 season, Jonathan Schoop has become a fixture in the bottom half of the Baltimore Orioles lineup. After missing a big chunk of 2015 with a knee injury, Schoop fully entrenched himself as the everyday second baseman last year. In fact, he was one only three batters to play in all 162 regular season games in 2016.
Among qualified hitters, only Rougned Odor and Schoop managed to walk under 3.5 percent of the time while also striking out in more than 21 percent of their respective at bats. Succeeding with an atypical approach and staying healthy allowed Schoop to set career highs across the board with 25 home runs, 82 runs and 82 RBI's. Refusing to walk can led to batting average dips, but Schoop held a serviceable .267 average that came with a league-average BABIP.
Schoop is currently going around pick 170 in NFBC drafts as the 15th second baseman. As a career reserve-splits guy -- he owns a lifetime .688 OPS against lefties with a .772 OPS against fellow right-handers -- Schoop could take a big step forward if he’s able to capitalize when he has the platoon advantage against left-handed pitchers. But even if he doesn't, he's locked into a meaningful role on what should be a high-powered Baltimore offense.