Baltimore Orioles add Mike Belfiore, Jonathan Schoop to 40 man roster - MLB News
The Baltimore Orioles added left-handed pitcher Mike Belfiore and infielder Jonathan Schoop to their 40 man roster ahead of Tuesday’s midnight deadline while out righting Oliver Drake to their Minor League team, Triple-A Norfolk. Both players were a part
of the Double-A Bowie Bay Sox in 2012.
Belfiore was acquired from the Arizona Diamondbacks as a part of a mid season trade. His work for the Bay Sox can be described as excellent. The left-handed pitcher in 28 games that he played for Bowie, posted an ERA of 2.85
Mike was ranked as the 14th best prospect for the Orioles by MLB.com. His numbers in the Arizona Fall League for the Mesa Solar Sox were also pretty good. In the 10 innings that he pitched in, Mike posted a 2.61 ERA, striking-out 11 batters. He
also got a spot on the AFL Rising Stars team this year.
Belfiore himself is quite pleased with his performance so far in 2012. He felt that being traded actually helped him. "The D-backs kind of strayed away with what I was doing [as a starter], and I was able to get back to that in the bullpen. And then getting
traded obviously opened the door for me as well," Mike said.
The 24-year-old Jonathan Schoop played 124 games for the Bowie Bay Sox in 2012. He posted a .245 batting average and a .324 on-base percentage. He was selected for the Rising Stars Game in the Arizona Fall League along with team-mate Mike Belfiore.
The numbers posted by Schoop in the AFL were quite impressive. In the 21 games he played in, the right-hander from Willemstad, Curacao, posted a .270 batting average and a .446 on-base percentage. He also had 10 RBI’s and went long twice.
Jonathan was drafted by the Orioles in August of 2008 as a non-drafted free agent from Curacao. He was the Orioles Minor League Player of the Year in 2011. He was also named as the Number three prospect for the Baltimore Orioles by MLB.com.
Dan Duquette, the Orioles’ executive vice president of the baseball operations said that the duo had performed well in the Minor League and shown their skills. "They are young, they are strong and they distinguished themselves in Double-A," Dan said.
Dan also pointed out individual strengths in the two youngsters. "Belfiore has had a good year. He pitched well in the California League; he pitched well in the Arizona Fall League and also in the Eastern League. And he's very tough on left-handed hitters.
Schoop can play the middle of the diamond and he can hit. He's got some power," Duquette said.
The Baltimore ball club has added two talented players to their roster. It is a good move on the part of the club to secure such players now who can serve the team well into future and lead them to success as well.
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