Sharlon Schoop

From BR Bullpen

Schoop.jpg

Sharlon Romans Emederio Schoop

  • Bats Right, Throws Right
  • Height 6' 2", Weight 191 lb.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Sharlon Schoop played 14 seasons in the minors, four in AAA, but never made the majors. He has played fairly regularly for the Dutch national team from 2009-2021. His brother Jonathan Schoop was an All-Star and hit over 150 homers in the majors.

Schoop signed with the San Francisco Giants shortly before his 17th birthday. He debuted professionally with the 2004 DSL Giants, hitting .251/.353/.337. In 2005, he batted .254/.328/.296 for the AZL Giants. He led Arizona League shortstops in putouts (72), assists (162), double plays (28) and fielding percentage (.971) to help the team to the AZL title. He was rated the league's #11 prospect by Baseball America, one slot behind teammate and fellow Curacao native Shairon Martis. Schoop split 2006 between the AZL Giants (.310/.437/.405) and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (four games). He made the Arizona League All-Star team as the shortstop and finished 4th in the league in OBP. On July 2, he hit for the cycle against the AZL Royals, the only player to perform the feat in the AZL that year. Baseball America rated him as the league's #7 prospect, behind Matt Sweeney.

In 2007, the 20-year-old infielder produced at a .284/.347/.463 clip for Salem-Keizer and batted .235/.286/.301 in 42 games for the Augusta GreenJackets. He led Northwest League shortstops in fielding percentage (.967) and double plays (38) and helped the Volcanoes to a title. Schoop was on the preliminary 42-man roster for the Dutch national team for the 2008 Olympics; of the 10 infielders listed, he was the only one who had never played for the "Orange" in a major event.

In 2008, Schoop hit .246/.305/.349 for the San Jose Giants. He made the Dutch national team for the first time in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. He started the Classic as the second baseman for the Netherlands but moved to shortstop when Hainley Statia got hurt early in the tourney. Schoop fielded well, but struggled at the plate, going 1 for 21 with a walk, 2 runs, a RBI and 7 strikeouts. In game one against the Dominican Republic, he bunted into a Miguel Olivo error and came around on a Sharnol Adriana hit in the first as part of a 3-2 upset win. His only hit was a single off Brad Ziegler of Team USA; he scored on a double by Yurendell de Caster. Later in the game, Schoop hit a sacrifice fly off Matt Lindstrom to score Danny Rombley, but the Dutch lost and were eliminated.

In 2009, he hit .241/.294/.316 in 105 games as a utility man for the Connecticut Defenders. He was the main second baseman for the Netherlands in the 2009 Baseball World Cup. Entering the placement games, he was at .364/.378/.568 with 2 triples, 7 runs and 8 RBI in 11 games, fielding .973; his homer was off Cuba's Yulieski González. He was second on the Netherlands in average (.007 behind Sidney de Jong and slugging (.047 behind Statia). He tied Statia and Jong-wook Ko for 4th in triples. He was 1 for 3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch in the 5th/6th place game loss to Australia.

During 2010, he hit .276/.324/.346 in 78 games split between the GreenJackets and Richmond Flying Squirrels. His two-run triple off Wong-jun Ko of South Korea was key in a Dutch win in the 2010 Intercontinental Cup. He hit .296/.345/.444 with 5 RBI in 7 games entering the placement games, fielding .935. He was 5th in the event with 19 assists. In the Gold Medal, he had 9 chances error-free at 2B but went 0 for 4; with the bases loaded, no outs in the 9th and a 4-1 deficit against Cuba, he flew out against Jonder Martínez. The Netherlands stranded the runners and took the loss but had their best finish in an Intercontinental Cup.

He spent 2011 with the Flying Squirrels, hitting .218/.288/.316 in 80 games, backing up at all four infield spots. He was again the Dutch second baseman, in the 2011 Baseball World Cup, while his brother Jonathan manned third. Sharlon hit a three-run homer off South Korea' Jin-woo Im but entered the placement round at .156/.341/.344 with 8 RBI in 11 games, going 3-for-3 in steals and fielding .973. He tied for 3rd in steals, one behind Jordan Danks and Skyler Stromsmoe. He tied de Jong for the lowest average on the Dutch, though. In the Gold Medal Game versus Cuba, he was 0 for 2 and got plunked once, laying down a sacrifice hit while handling three chances error-free. He did come up big on defense, making a leaping grab to rob Rusney Castillo in the 6th to preserve a 2-1 lead, which would be the final margin. It was the Netherlands' first world title (and only one through 2021).

Schoop signed with the Kansas City Royals as a free agent entering 2012. He had his best OPS in six years, producing at a .267/.341/.436 clip for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. He missed all of 2013 due to injury. He next signed with the Baltimore Orioles, for whom his brother was then playing. Primarily backing up Garabez Rosa at short, he hit .217/.288/.300 for the Bowie Baysox. Back with the Netherlands for the 2014 European Championship, he drove in four against Croatia (with a 3-run bomb off Matija Sertić) and scored three versus Germany. Starting at short, he produced at a .381/.440/.714 clip with 7 runs and 8 RBI in 6 games, fielding .909, entering the Gold Medal Game. He was 0 for 4 from the 8 slot in the Gold Medal Game, handling five error-free chances in a 6-3 win over Italy.

Finally making it to AAA in 2015, he hit .217/.280/.253 in 54 games for the Norfolk Tides (also .224/.280/.282 in 27 games for Bowie that year). Backing up Statia at second in the 2015 Premier 12, he had 8 error-free chances and was 1 for 6 with a run, his lone hit coming off Cuba's Frank Montieth. 2016 was very similar - .236/.296/.358 in 46 G for Norfolk, .214/.297/.307 in 40 G for Bowie. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he was a backup both in the outfield and at second base (where his brother started).

In the summer of '17, the 30-year-old saw limited time with Norfolk (.193/.253/.432, 5 HR in 26 G) and Bowie (.348/.423/.435 in 8 G). He spent a fourth straight year with the two teams in 2018, hitting .209/.281/.302 in 28 games for the Tides and .278/.454/.444 in 8 games for the Baysox to conclude his 14-year minor league run. He then signed with the Amsterdam Pirates in the Netherlands for 2019. In the 2019 European Champions Cup, he was 5 for 10 with 2 doubles, a homer (off Unipol Bologna's Raúl Rivero in a 2-1 win), a steal and 6 walks in 4 games, handling 15 chances error-free entering the finale. He had 3-run games against the Bonn Capitals and Arrows Ostrava. He was among the leaders in average (tied Maxime Lefevre and Linoy Croes for 5th), slugging (tied Delano Selassa for 4th), OBP (1st, .041 ahead of Alex Rubanowitz), runs (1st, one ahead of Kenny Berkenbosch), doubles (tied for 4th, 2), walks (tied Gianison Boekhoudt and Charlie Mirabal for 1st). In the finale, he was 0 for 3 with a walk as Rivero shut down Amsterdam.

He had the lowest average of any qualifier in the 2019 World Port Tournament, going 2 for 21 with 2 runs, 3 RBI and 5 walks in 6 games, but his hits both came in the finale against Japan to drive in runs in a 3-2 win, including scoring Kemp with the winner. He was second in walks, one behind Alexander Rodrigues. In the 2019 Hoofdklasse, he produced at a .357/.427/.486 clip with 15 runs and 15 RBI in 19 games and handled 74 chances error-free. He did play enough to qualify for the leaderboards; had he qualified, he would have been 5th in average (between Shaldimar Daantji and Dudley Leonora), 6th in slugging (between Boekhoudt and Rodney Daal) and tied Benjamin Dille for 5th in OBP. He fell to .214/.313/.321 in the 2019 Holland Series, with 3 hits in Game 2. In Game 6, he drew a bases-loaded walk from Kevin Kelly to force in Selassa with the winner to tie the Series. In Game 7, he had a two-run homer off Berry van Driel for insurance as Amsterdam won its first title in eight years. He had 24 chances in the Series without an error. Only Max Clarijs drew more walks in the Series than his four.

In the 2019 European Championship, he went 5 for 5 with a double, home run (versus Joakim Claesson), 2 runs and 3 RBI against Sweden. He had 3 hits and 3 RBI to beat Great Britain. Entering the finale, he hit .444/.500/.667 with 7 RBI in 7 games, fielding .905. He was leading the Netherlands in average (.023 ahead of Hendrik Clementina) and was second in OBP (.036 shy of Kalian Sams). Among all teams, he was 5th in average (between Kruno Gojković and Lefevre), tied Jordan Serena and Simon Rosenbaum for 7th in OBP and tied for 2nd with 3 doubles (one behind Petr Čech). Hitting cleanup and playing third in the Gold Medal Game, he was 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts (4 chances error-free in the field) in a 5-1 win over Italy.

The Netherlands moved on to the 2019 Europe/Africa Olympic Qualifier. Splitting second base with Calten Daal and also manning third base, he hit .235/.316/.412 with a highlight being a homer off Bradley Erasmus of South Africa. Israel won the qualifier, but the Netherlands did finish second to go on to the 2020 Final Olympic Qualifier (which would be delayed a year, like the Olympics, by the COVID-19 pandemic. His busy year ended with the 2019 Premier 12, as he was 2 for 6 with a run as a utility infielder with hits off the USA's Cody Ponce and the Dominicans' Samuel Adames.

In a COVID-shortened 2020 Hoofdklasse, he hit .350/.451/.600 with 19 runs and 17 RBI in 15 games, fielding .984. He made the leaderboards in average (9th, between Darryl Collins and Diamond Silberie), slugging (6th, between Denzel Richardson and Kemp), OBP (10th, between Stijn van der Meer and Nolan Beugeling), runs (tied with Victor Draijer and Jochem Koedijk for 8th), RBI (tied Berkenbosch and Dashenko Ricardo for 8th), doubles (7, tied Ruendrick Piternella for 4th), homers (2, tied for 9th), total bases (36, 8th) and assists (46, tied for 8th). He was 1 for 5 with 4 walks (tied Clarijs for the most) and 3 runs in the 1st 2 games of the 2020 Holland Series as Amsterdam beat Neptunus in both, but the Series ended due to COVID-19 safety provisions and neither team was awarded the title.

Alternating at 2B and 3B in the "2020 Final Olympic Qualifier" in 2021, he was 3 for 10 with 3 runs and 2 RBI in 3 games, fielding .889. He hit a two-run homer off Venezuela's Arcenio León late in the opener. In the second game, his errant throw in the bottom of the 9th let Ramón Torres of the Dominicans score the winner. The Netherlands failed to make the "2020 Olympics".

With Amsterdam for the 2021 European Champions Cup, he was 3 for 3 for Ostrava and finished 6-for-12 with 5 runs, 2 RBI and 3 walks. In the 2021 Hoofdklasse, he barely played, going 3 for 9 with 5 walks and 2 runs. Prior to the Holland Series, the 2021 European Championship was held. He split 1B with Juremi Profar and 2B with Daal, hitting .500/.577/.591 with 10 RBI and 7 runs in 6 games, fielding .970. He saved his best for last, finishing with 3-RBI games against Spain and Israel with four hits versus Israel in the Gold Medal Game to lead the Dutch charge (teammate Roger Bernadina was named European Championship MVP). He tied Marek Chlup for 3rd in the Euros in hits (11), was 7th in RBI, tied Oscar Angulo for 5th in average and was 8th in OBP (between Denys Brechko and Ray-Patrick Didder). It was his third European Championship title. In the 2021 Holland Series, the veteran kept on rolling. He had four hits in a Game 6 win over Neptunus to keep Amsterdam's hopes alive then hit the sacrifice fly off Kelly to score Raydley Legito with the first run of Game 7 as the Pirates won, 4-2. He hit .345/.344/.345 for the Series. He tied van der Meer for 2nd in the Series in hits (2 behind Bernadina), tied for 3rd with 4 runs and led with 6 RBI (one ahead of Sams), while fielding .979 at short. His more famous brother Jonathan attended some of the games, Jonathan's season having ended by then. He was named Holland Series MVP, the third straight infielder to win, following van der Meer and Selassa.

Sources[edit]

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