Detroit — No jury would convict if Jonathan Schoop was a tad salty about his reduced role so far this season.
He’s been an everyday player for most of his previous 10 big-league seasons, and now he’s a part-timer coming off AJ Hinch’s bench. His start in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the Mets on Wednesday was his 13th in 28 games. He entered with 51 plate appearances, the fewest he’s had in the first month of a season since 2015, not counting the pandemic year of 2020.
Hinch has tried to use him as a matchup weapon against left-handed pitching. And Schoop has responded, going 6- for-17 against lefties this season. And yet, in the eighth inning of a one-run game Sunday, Hinch sent up right-handed-hitting Zack Short to pinch-hit against Orioles lefty Danny Coulombe.
It’s enough to push any veteran, accomplished player into a dark place. Schoop, though, is not like most others in that regard.
“My mind is good,” he said. “I try to find the positive all the time in everything. I’m a positive guy. I find positives in a lot of negatives. Sometimes, it’s hard, but there’s nothing you can do about it. The only thing you can do is play hard when your chance comes and try to help your teammates.
“I’m a good teammate.”
That is the unassailable truth. If you watch Schoop in the dugout during games, if you watch him in the clubhouse, he’s invariably got a smile on his face and he’s mixing it up with his teammates. He’s not ever in a corner sulking.
“It’s tough, you know,” he said. “In the past, you get your at-bats every day. You can make adjustments quicker. Like this (not playing every day), it’s tough to spark. Sometimes you press. You only get two at-bats and you try to do everything in those two at-bats. That’s where you can start to go bad.”
Hinch has been rotating several players between second base and third base, generally trying to find the best offensive matchups. Nick Maton, Zach McKinstry, Andy Ibanez, Tyler Nevin and now Short have all rotated through, along with Schoop.
Schoop, who is slashing .217/.294/.261, has played 15 games at second base and three at third.
“You just keep grinding,” he said. “I know who I am. I’m a really good player. Sometimes, you can let things like that break you down mentally. It’s tough. You have to find the positives in the negative. There is nothing to be mad about. I’m in the big leagues.
“I’ve got 10 years in the big leagues and they didn’t expect me to play one game in the big leagues. You find the positives.”
Understand, though, there is a difference between understanding a situation and accepting it.
“I don’t want to accept it,” said Schoop, who is in the final year of his contract with the Tigers and is earning $7.5 million. “I’m a team guy and I do understand everything that’s going on. But, I don’t want to accept it to myself. If I accept it, then I am going to sit down and just relax.
“I don’t accept it and I am going to work harder and harder to get my chance. People forget. I’ve been in the big leagues a long time and they think I’m 35, 36 years old. I’m 31. I can still play this game.”
Around the horn
… Miguel Cabrera, curiously, was not in the lineup against Mets lefty Joey Lucchesi in Game 1. He hasn’t played since Sunday. Asked about Cabrera’s absence before the games Wednesday, Hinch said Cabrera was sick, “under the weather,” but did not elaborate.
… This is the first time the Mets have played a series in Detroit since August 2016.
Mets at Tigers
First pitch: 1:10 p.m. Thursday, Comerica Park
TV/radio: Bally Sports Detroit/97.1, 1270
Scouting report:
RHP Justin Verlander (season debut), Mets: The three-time Cy Young Award-winner and future Hall-of-Famer started the season on the IL because of a lat strain. He made one rehab start, throwing 69 pitches in 4.2 innings at Triple-A Binghamton. Seems only fitting that his first start as a Met should come against his former team, in his old stomping grounds.
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2, 2.21), Tigers: He’s allowed two runs in 26.2 innings over his last four starts, with 24 strikeouts and four walks, holding hitters to a .178 average. Is that any good? On the season, opponents are hitting .195 with an average exit velocity on balls in play of a mild 84.5 mph. The hard-hit rate against Rodriguez is 28%.
Twitter: @cmccosky