Right knee injury forces Schoop to disabled list
BOSTON -- The Orioles' infield was dealt another blow on Saturday as second baseman Jonathan Schoop was placed on the 15-day disabled list after an MRI exam revealed a partial PCL tear and a mild MCL sprain in his right knee.
"I was tripping over first base," Schoop said of sustaining the injury in his fifth-inning at-bat in Friday's 3-2 loss to the Red Sox. "On the last play [of the game], I felt like my leg was burning. And then walking, I felt like I couldn't move my leg. I woke up stiff [Saturday] morning."
Fellow infielder Jimmy Paredes -- who was on rehab assignment for a back injury -- took Schoop's place on the roster and was the designated hitter in Saturday's 4-1 win, going 2-for-5 with a run scored.
Video: BAL@BOS: Paredes on being called up before the game
The O's, who are already without shortstop J.J. Hardy, haven't made public any timetable for Schoop's return.
"There's three grades. This is Grade 1, which is good news. From the symptoms he had last night and where we are now, I feel, not relieved, but I feel better than I thought we had the potential to have," manager Buck Showalter said. "Just really glad that his ACL is in good shape because that's the one you have to do surgery and it's an extended period of time. This is just a rehab. He'll be going to Sarasota [Fla.] very soon. Don't want him going up and down planes, stairs and whatever, because it's got to quiet down. That Grade 1 could turn into something else if he takes a misstep or something."
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The 23-year-old Schoop said the injury had nothing to do with a hard slide into second by Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval earlier in the game and Showalter concurred.
"We didn't think twice about the slide last night and don't tonight," Showalter said of the play that set up starter Ubaldo Jimenez's ejection after hitting Sandoval in the shoulder. "It's some figment of somebody's imagination."
The Orioles' loss, however, is very real. Schoop, in his second year in the Majors, had a nice start to the season, hitting .259 (7-for-27) with three homers and seven RBIs through nine games. He hit 16 homers and drove in 45 runs over 137 games last season.
"It's really disappointing, you want to be there for the team, for myself," Schoop said. "So far, I was having really good at-bats. It's really disappointing, but there's nothing I can do."
"He was doing some things, we hoped he would start doing this year and that's the last thing I told him," Showalter said. "Have that mental picture and watch those at-bats, because the things he was doing the last four, five or six games, if Jon stays with that approach he's going to be a force."
In Schoop's absence, Ryan Flaherty -- who got the start on Saturday -- will see the bulk of time at second base. That could change when Hardy returns as Everth Cabrera, who has been playing at short, could also work in at second base.