Lakeland, Fla. — Jonathan Schoop is 31 years old, entering his 11th big-league season and the final year of his contract with the Tigers.
But to hear him talk about it Sunday, it’s just the beginning.
“Last year was tough,” he said. “I have achieved a lot in my career, but something like that makes you want to get better. Baseball is adjustments, and I feel it was time for me to make adjustments and be better for the second part of my career.
“I’ve done the first part, but I have a lot more to show. I have a lot more in my tank. This is the start of the second part of my career and it’s going to be better than before.”
As he was talking, you got the sense Schoop worked hard this offseason to turn back his own clock. He has come to camp significantly lighter — both in body and seemingly in spirit. His presence brought palpable energy to the clubhouse on the eve of the first full-squad workout.
“I was working out to slim down a little bit to be in better shape, to feel better and to have a better season,” he said.
All through the winter, Schoop was sending videos of his workouts to manager AJ Hinch. There has been some concern within the organization that Schoop’s range at second base might be impacted by the banning of infield shifts. Schoop wanted to show Hinch that he covered that ground plenty well before the shifts, and he can do so again without them.
“I know I can cover that ground, I know for sure,” Schoop said. “But I wanted to be slimmer so I can have a better season overall, so I don’t get tired as easily — whatever I can do to be better for this year. I trained a little bit harder and I ate a little bit better.”
He also played winter ball, something he hasn’t done since he broke into the big leagues. He played for Curacao in the Caribbean World Series and he also will play for Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic next month.
“I want to be a step ahead,” he said. “I want to have seen pitches already and fix things I might have to fix early. I changed some things in my stance so I wanted to see pitches and see where I am at in case I need to tweak something.”
Schoop, who suffered through a career-worst season in batting average (.202), on-base percentage (.239), slugging (.322), OPS (.561) and OPS-plus (62) last year, said he has opened up his stance slightly which helps him keep both eyes on the pitch and puts him in a better position to attack the ball.
“Sometimes when you get into trouble it’s tough to get out of it,” he said. “You press too hard. You want to get out of it. You want to show you can get out of it and compete. And us together as a team, we weren’t doing well and you feel like the pressure is on you. You feel you have to do it yourself and it’s tough.
“But last year is over with. This year is going to be better for everybody, not only for me.”
Schoop was on the backfields Sunday taking ground balls at second base and working with shortstop Javier Báez, trying to get acclimated to the new 18-square-inch bases. He said he will play third base if that’s where he’s needed, but he seems on a mission to show it wasn’t the shifts that made him a Gold Glove finalist last season.
“I am ready to do whatever they want me to do,” he said. “I just want to see my name in the lineup. I just want to play baseball. That’s all I know how to do.”
Hinch was asked if, all things being equal, his preference was to keep Schoop at second and mix and match players at third base.
“My preference is for Jonathan to swing at strikes,” he said. “He will find his way on the defensive side. We really need to get him in the strike zone because he’s a dangerous hitter.”
Schoop, always a free swinger, had a chase rate of 36.8% and a whiff rate of 28.2% last year. Hinch said Schoop left some 40 walks on the table by chasing pitches out of the zone on three-ball counts. He hit .091 with 15 strikeouts in three-ball counts, .111 with 15 strikeouts in 3-2 counts.
His 3.7% walk rate ranked in the bottom 2 percentile in baseball.
“That’s not easy to automatically correct,” Hinch said. “He’s not going to get all of those back. But things like that (cutting down the chase) are going to enrich his opportunity to play at a couple of different positions. I know he can play second base. He’s very good at a lot of aspects of that position.
“Our emphasis is going to be more on getting him in the strike zone.”
Nobody is expecting double-digit walk rates from Schoop. He isn’t that type of hitter. The highest walk rate of his career was 5.5% in 2021. But even small gains in that aspect of his game can make a huge difference in his productivity.
“As people, we take a goal and then we rush all the way to the polar opposite of what they were doing,” Hinch said. “I don’t think it’s inconceivable for him to walk more. Pushing him to where walks become a strength would be a challenge, just because of what he’s done naturally in his career.
“But that doesn’t mean he can’t get incrementally better, specifically in areas where the count is in his favor. … I don’t want him going up there thinking walk. But I think he can get incrementally better and if it’s just one step better, that’s a step in the right direction.”
Hinch said he wasn’t at all surprised by Schoop’s commitment this offseason. That’s how proud professional players should respond to a down season, after all, especially entering a contract season.
“He had a tough year, but that didn’t change his mindset or his work ethic or his spirit,” Hinch said. “But it changed his urgency to do something a little differently. Obviously he played in the Caribbean series so he’s a little ahead of where he’s been at this time the last couple of seasons, regardless of the body changes.
“It’s enlightening to see a veteran player who understands that as he ages he has to do things a little differently.”
Schoop is a 20-WAR player through his first 10 big-league seasons. While being a consistently elite defender, he’s been a mostly streaky offensive player — .255 career average, 174 home runs and a slightly below-average 97 OPS-plus.
He’s aiming to be much more productive in Act 2.
“I feel like I’m going to be a better hitter,” he said. “I have put up some good numbers but I think I can be better overall — get more pitches to hit, walk more, get on base, even hit more home runs, all those kinds of things.
“I think the second part of my career is going to be good. Every time you step in the box you feel like you’re going to do something good.”
He hasn’t stepped on a scale, so he couldn’t say exactly how much weight he’d lost since the end of last season. But if the weight could be measured in years, he looks five years lighter.
“I feel it just waking up and living life,” he said. “My health is better. I feel better. You guys are going to see. You guys are going to talk more about me this year. We didn’t talk too much last year. This year I’m going to give you good things to talk about.”
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky