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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2011		The long-ball issues that have plagued Scott Schoeneweis' last four campaigns followed him to Boston, and the lefty no longer looks like even a passable LOOGY thanks to nearly as many free passes as punchouts over his last two seasons.
2010		The lefty specialist struggled last season, serving as a proverbial batting tee for hitters from both sides of the plate. Specialists are particularly difficult to judge given the especially small sample sizes accrued, but Schoeneweis is certainly a better pitcher than his statistics this past season suggest. At least part of his struggles can be attributed to the untimely death of his wife, which kept him out of action for the latter part of the season. Schoeneweis filed for free agency, suggesting that he will he will keep playing rather than retire to spend time with his family. If he does return, southpaws with decent sliders are always valued, particularly those who held left-handed batters to .199/.284/.263 from 2005 through 2008.
2009		On the season's final day, Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez pinch-hit righty Wes Helms against Schoeneweis for lefty Mike Jacobs to open the eighth inning. Helms hit the ball over the left-field wall to put the Marlins up for good and kill the Mets' post-season hopes. That home run virtually assured that "The Show" would not be allowed to collect the final $3.6 million left on his contract in New York, as Minaya traded him to the D'backs for Connor Robertson in December. Hopefully, the Mets have learned that extreme specialists should never get three-year deals.
2008		Despite the fact that he had pitched well in only one of the previous three seasons, the Mets signed Schoeneweis to a three-year contract following the 2006 campaign. He responded by making it one in four. A sinker/slider pitcher who gets plenty of ground balls, Schoeneweis is murder on lefties, but right-handers hit .292/.364/.466 against him on his career and .316/.390/.574 in 2007. That makes him no more than a LOOGY, and LOOGY's don't deserve three-year contracts. Further complicating matters were post-season headlines connecting Schoeneweis to a sham Florida pharmacy that was involved in steroid shipments (Schoenweis escaped punishment).
2007		Once good for almost anything you asked him to do, he`s left behind his utility pitcher rep to ascend to the luxuries of LOOGYdom. Now a free agent, his ugly ERA might end up making him a bargain for a team looking for a veteran lefty with postseason experience who can handle the challenge of a situational workload.
2006		The least-publicized of the middle-class free agents signed by the Jays before the 2005 season, Schoeneweis cashed checks totaling $2.5 million while laboring in the coveted role of LOOGY. He held fellow southpaws to .188/.260/.241, so he did his job, but $44,000 an inning for a highly limited performer is a pretty expensive luxury item. He`ll do it again next year for an extra $250,000. In some respect, this is the American dream: to make more while working less.
2005		Schoeneweis entered last season with a 5.27 career ERA as a starter and a 4.38 career ERA in relief. There is a lot of research to be done on just which pitchers are better suited for which roles, but Schoeneweis has always had a large platoon differential, which gives reason to believe that the split is a meaningful one: It's easier to manage the match-ups when a pitcher is coming out of the pen. Predictably, opposing managers stacked the lineup with righties when Schoeneweis was penciled in as the starter, such that they constituted more than 80% of his opposing plate appearances. Just as predictably, he struggled, as righties teed off for a .303/.375/.510 line against him. Non-tendered, then signed to a two-year, $5.2 million deal by the Blue Jays.
2004		The Sox were expected to non-tender Schoeneweis, but reversed course at the last minute, apparently hoping that he'll be worth his arbitration payout if returned to a starter's role. It wasn't a bad thought, but Schoeneweis showed real potential as a reliever last year, upping his strikeout rate significantly while limiting left-handers to a .227/.293/.277 line. He isn't likely to match that PECOTA projection if left in the rotation, where his lack of a change-up leaves him exposed.
2003		Ineffectiveness and a large number of options cost Schoeneweis his spot in the rotation. His ERA dropped by two runs once he went to the pen, but he really didn’t pitch as well as that suggests, allowing 23 hits, 9 walks, and 5 home runs in 27.2 innings of relief. He’s asked to be traded to a team that will use him as a starter, but Stoneman has declined the request, so it looks like he’ll man the situational reliever/emergency starter role in 2003. The Angels probably have considerably better options available for that role, but like most World Series winners, they’ll probably play it a little too safe.
2002		Schoeneweis repeated his pattern of starting the season strong (posting a 2.91 ERA in April) and slowly reverting to the mean over the rest of the year. He was steady and kept the Angels in games, which is saying something considering their offensive woes. Finesse guys with the kind of strikeout-to-walk ratio that Schoeneweis sports are always in danger of cratering.
2001		He made more starts than any other Angel as the veteran free agents fell apart. Scott Schoeneweis had a 3.15 ERA in April and never had a month below 5.40 afterwards. Schoeneweis would pitch very well for the first couple of innings (up to about 40 pitches), then get hit much harder as the game went on. He would be a great long-relief candidate if the Angels didn't have so many better options.
2000		Schoeneweis pitched junk relief for the Angels in the first half and was nothing special, then got bludgeoned on his return to Edmonton. He’s fallen behind Ortiz and Cooper in the organization’s view, and needs a good spring to reestablish himself. In almost 40 innings, no one stole a base on him.
1999		The best prospect in the system. Schoeneweis has advanced steadily, fighting off a minor arm injury in 1997 and coming back to post a strong season at Vancouver. He will enter spring training with a shot to win a starting job, with his chances hinging on whether the Angels sign or trade for any starting pitchers. For my money, he's a better pitcher than Washburn; less inclined to nibble, more of a fastball/slider pitcher. I'd love to see him get 90 innings or so in low-leverage relief, kind of the way the Astros broke in Scott Elarton last year.
1998		One of two legitimate prospects at the upper levels. Schoeneweis battled an injury this year that limited his innings, but doesn’t look like it will hinder his progress in the long-term. He’s already undergone reconstructive elbow surgery and fought testicular cancer, so a minor arm injury is nothing. He throws a fastball, slider and changeup for strikes. Could be in Anaheim by August, after a very good Arizona Fall League season.

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Scott Schoeneweis threw 1,730 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2010, all of them occuring in Spring Training. In 2010, he relied primarily on his Sinker (87mph), Fourseam Fastball (87mph) and Slider (79mph).