Milwaukee Brewers: Jonathan Schoop Struggling Mightily in Milwaukee

As the MLB trade deadline came and went on July 31^st, one of the buzzer beater trades was the Milwaukee Brewers acquiring Jonathan Schoop. This was a move that perplexed some fans as most thought that the Brewers would be pursuing a starting pitcher and not adding more depth to an already crowded infield.

Brewers GM David Stearns made this move to help bring stability to the second base position that, up until this point, has been a revolving door of different players, with the hopes that one of them would step up and take the job.

In order to bring Schoop to Milwaukee, the Brewers had to give up Jonathan Villar and minor leaguers Luis Ortiz and Jean Carmona, both of which ranked in the top 15 in the Brewers farm system. By no means was Schoop a steal, but it was a move that Stearns felt would give the Brewers offense a boost.

Schoop Before The Trade

Schoop got his first start with Baltimore back in the 2013 season and from that point on has continued to improve each year. This includes a 2017 season that resulted in a batting average of .293, 32 home runs and 105 RBIs, all career bests. Most recently he was named AL player of the week where he put up a batting average of .379, 6 runs scored, 5 home runs and 6 RBIs over a 6-game stretch.

More from Brewers News

• Brewers: 4 Players Who Must Step Up for the Crew to Make the Playoffs
• Brewers: Yet Another Huge Promotion For Top Prospect Jackson Chourio
• Brewers Making Colossal Mistake With Corbin Burnes’ Contract
• Which Players May Be In The Final Month Of Their Brewers Careers?
• Brewers: Where Does Devin Williams Stand In NL Reliever Of The Year Race?

The Milwaukee Brewers felt that they were bringing in the hot bat of a young player whose numbers each year have been trending upward to help shore up their middle infield and add some more firepower to an already explosive offense.

Schoop In Milwaukee

Unfortunately, the Jonathan Schoop that was referred to up above has not been close to making that kind of impact in Milwaukee. After today’s game, as a Brewer, he is batting .095 with only two hits.

He’s also had several opportunities to endear himself to Brewer nation by having seven at-bats with runners in scoring position in his short time here, but in those at bats he’s only mustered one hit and has zero RBIs. In a move that many had hoped would provide more stability at the middle infield position, has to this point, added instability if anything.

He’s also made numerous defensive mistakes. Missed ground balls and dropping catches that should be made haven’t helped him add value to this team so far.

Moving forward, we have to keep in mind that what we’ve seen of Schoop in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform is a small sample size. But it doesn’t change the fact that, thus far, he has been drastically underwhelming, especially since this was a trade most Brewer fans didn’t want to see happen after the Moustakas deal.

His struggles could stem from him pressing at the plate, feeling the pressure to show his worth to his new team. However, that kind of mindset will only continue to compound the mistakes.

At this point, Counsell should continue to keep Schoop in the starting lineup. He needs more at bats to break out of this slump and riding the pine isn’t going to help him. We know the type of player Schoop can be. He will bounce out of this early slump as a Brewer. When that time comes, this offense will become even more terrifying to opposing pitchers.