Milwaukee Brewers: Jonathan Schoop Finally Being Productive

When the Milwaukee Brewers acquired Jonathan Schoop from the Orioles on July 31st, he was supposed to be an added force in the lineup. For the most part, he’s been anything but.

Recently, Jonathan Schoop has finally started to show some signs of life at the plate. His slump in a Milwaukee Brewers uniform appears to be over.

Schoop hit nine home runs during the month of July with the Orioles, but his power disappeared for about three weeks despite playing half his games at the hitter-friendly Miller Park. Now it appears that power has returned. With his home run Wednesday night against the Reds, Schoop now has three in a Brewers uniform, all since August 21st.

Over his last 19 at-bats, Schoop has seven hits, including those three home runs.

Getting Schoop back into a groove is vital for this offense going forward. GM David Stearns did not acquire Schoop just to sit him on the bench all the time, which he’s been doing a lot of during his prolonged slump.

It’s a good look for Stearns as well for Schoop to play well. He gave up a lot to acquire Schoop, a player many fans didn’t think the Milwaukee Brewers needed after the acquisition of Mike Moustakas. Schoop’s struggles early on certainly didn’t help endear himself to this fanbase.

Importance Of A Strong September

With things trending upward for Schoop, he looks primed for a monster month of September. The Brewers are going to need several players to have monster months in September if they’re going to win the NL Central or even get a Wild Card spot.

Having a good showing for Schoop is not only vital to the Brewers playoff hopes, but it’s going to be crucial in determining his future. The Milwaukee Brewers have reportedly been considering moving on from Schoop in the offseason by either trading or non-tendering him.

If he continues to play well, David Stearns could decide to keep him for the 2019 season or he could find a trade partner that’s willing to pay the price Stearns wants. If Schoop struggles again, few teams would be willing to give up anything of value for Schoop and Stearns may end up non-tendering him because of his expected arbitration raise.

Should Schoop keep this hot streak going, no one with the Brewers is going to complain. But with Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas also hitting well right now, it’ll be tough to take any of them out of the lineup. It was easy to take Schoop out of the lineup when he was struggling, but if all three are hot, Craig Counsell is going to have some tough decisions to make.

The Milwaukee Brewers need Jonathan Schoop to build off this recent stretch and continue playing well into September, if only for it to not make them look like fools for acquiring him.