Schoop rides own All-Star path

After flying under the radar, O’s 25-year-old rises to top tier of AL second basemen

MINNEAPOLIS – Jonathan Schoop was never the big dog coming up through the Orioles organization. He wasn’t some international free-agent bonus baby whose path to greatness was set before the day he signed. When he arrived from the tiny Caribbean island Curaçao and first reported to the club’s Dominican academy for his initial taste of professional baseball at age 16, he was one of many projects looking to get noticed.

Even now, despite putting up some of the best run production numbers of any middle infielder in the game, Schoop still isn’t discussed in the same breath as some of the game’s top young talent. His emergence has been lost in the Orioles’ first-half collapse, but maybe being named an All-Star can start to change that.

Schoop will be the Orioles’ sole representative in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Marlins Park in Miami, a fitting reward for a season in which the 25-year-old has taken his game to another level. The spectacle of the midsummer classic will be different for Schoop, so he has leaned on teammates for advice.

“The emotion still hasn’t hit me yet,” Schoop said Friday before the Orioles’ game in Minnesota. “I see I’m an All-Star and I’m happy and excited about it, but I think it’s when I go there that the emotion is going to be there. … I want to PG5 enjoy it. You never know if you’re going to be with that kind of group again. That’s why I’ve asked Manny [Machado], I’ve asked Jonesy [Adam Jones] what to expect and what to do. … I want to do everything I can do so I can enjoy it — me and my family — have fun and then come back strong for the second half.”

Schoop’s 17 homers entering Saturday were tied for most in the majors by a second baseman — the Seattle Mariners’ Robinson Cano and Texas Rangers’ Rougned Odor also had 17. But Schoop’s 40 extra-base hits as a second baseman, including 23 doubles, were the most of any American League