Jonathan Schoop Sparks Tigers Offense
Jonathan Schoop's four-hit night in Cleveland accounted for his seventh multi-hit game of the season, and it couldn't have come in a more timely fashion.
The 28-year-old's lucrative night at the plate helped propel the Tigers to a 10-5 victory over the Indians, marking their first win over Cleveland since April 10th, 2019.
Schoop finished the night one triple shy of the cycle after going 4-for-5 with a game-changing two-run homer in the Tiger's explosive fourth-inning rally.
"We've got some guys that are talented and can hit," said manager Ron Gardenhire. "And Paredes comes in with a big one, the grand slam, but I think Schoopy (Jonathan Schoop) got us going with that bomb that he hit, he hit that thing an absolute mile, and it got everybody a little looser in the dugout. We just kept grinding out. We had a lot of good at-bats. Fouled off pitches, and ultimately we had a big inning which we desperately needed, and we held on there at the end."
The bomb that Gardenhire mentioned was an absolute moonshot that traveled a mere 431-feet with an exit velocity of 113.6 mph off the bat of Jonathan Schoop to ignite what turned out to be a seven-run inning for the Tigers after trailing 5-0.
"Schoop's home run...I don't think it has landed yet," said Tigers pitcher Michael Fulmer.
Schoop's 138 home runs since 2014 are the third most by a second baseman during that period.
While his hitting appeared to be contagious in Friday night's victory, we can't discount how indispensable his veteran vocal presence and leadership in the clubhouse can be for a young team.
"Since just showing up to the park, we just said to ourselves, let's go out there and compete and fight all the time," said Schoop. Even if you're down, just believe in ourselves and put good at-bats and good things will happen. You know the fire starts since we came into the park and it was trying to get a W, and we did."
It's been nearly seven years since Jonathan Schoop entered the bigs as a wide-eyed 21-year-old for the Baltimore Orioles. Earlier this week, he had the pleasure of watching another optimistic 21-year-old, Isaac Paredes, make his debut for Detroit.
Fast Forward to Paredes' fifth day as a major league ballplayer, and he and Schoop both contributed important home runs to a much-needed Tigers victory.
"The way that he handles himself," Schoop said when asked about Paredes. "He's like two years, three years ahead already. He's really calm and knows what he's doing."
For Paredes, having an experienced individual like Jonathan Schoop in his ear during the ups and the inevitable down moments will be invaluable at this stage of his blossoming career.
