The Angels announced this afternoon that first baseman Nolan Schanuel has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a left wrist contusion. Outfielder Matthew Lugo was recalled to replace Schanuel on the roster.
The 23-year-old Schanuel was selected 11th overall by Anaheim in the 2023 draft and made his big league debut later that same year. He was an above-average hitter from the very outset, slashing .275/.402/.330 (113 wRC+) in 29 games at the big league level during his draft year. A lack of power has limited Schanuel’s ceiling somewhat, but he’s still been a quality regular for the Angels at first base. This season, he’s slashed .266/.355/.383 (108 wRC+) with a career-low 12.3% strikeout rate, ten home runs, and five steals in six attempts. Most notably, he’s made strides at first base after starting out as a well below average glove to post average (+0 Fielding Run Value) defense at the position according some advanced metrics.
All of that is now on hold, as Schanuel is ticketed for the injured list for at least the next week. Schanuel was struck by a pitch from Phillies southpaw Ranger Suarez that at the time caused what was labelled as a left wrist contusion, the same diagnosis Schanuel is now headed to the shelf with. That was more than a month ago, so it’s not clear if this ailment is the same one that was caused by that hit by pitch. With that being said, Schanuel’s numbers have fallen off in a big way since that incident in Philadelphia. In 30 games, he’s slashed just .243/.328/.342 (90 wRC+). That’s a significant downgrade from the 113 wRC+ Schanuel posted through the end of that series against the Phillies, and since the end of that series Schanuel has been striking out more often and walking far less than 10% of the time, a major change of pace for a patient, OBP-focused hitter like him.
Whatever the cause of Schanuel’s ailing wrist, the Angels have clearly decided that it would be wise to offer the 23-year-old some time to heal. With a 61-68 record entering play today, the Angels sit 7.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot and even further behind the AL West, so the possibility of a playoff berth is a remote consideration at best. That surely made it a relatively easy decision to prioritize Schanuel’s long-term health, and it stands to reason that the club won’t try and rush Schanuel back into the lineup before he’s completely healthy. Niko Kavadas, who made his MLB debut last year with Anaheim and is a career .184/.286/.327 (78 wRC+) hitter at the big league level, figures to handle first in Schanuel’s absence.
Replacing Schanuel on the active roster is Lugo, who made his MLB debut earlier this year and has played primarily center field after spending time both in the outfield and on the infield during his time in the minors. A second-round pick by the Red Sox back in 2019, Lugo came to Anaheim as part of a trade last summer. He’s done well in a limited look at the MLB level, with a .238/.256/.548 (115 wRC+) slash line in 17 games. That solid performance is mostly carried by his three homers, but he’s still looked like a viable complementary piece for the Angels’ outfield mix. Lugo could vie for playing time in center field, which is currently occupied by Bryce Teodosio. Jo Adell and Taylor Ward have locked down the outfield corners and seem all but certain to remain everyday players down the stretch, barring an injury.
Its really strange this injury comes to light now. Either the training staff did their usual thing and misdiagnosed or the front office does their usual thing of shutting down a player early to give them an early vacation or bring some longtime.injured person play the last few weeks to give us “something to think about”. How this creates a winner I’ll never know.
He came out of the Saturday night game against the Cubs after a couple of innings. So it appeared that he re-aggravated it.
He was probably trying to play through it but now they find themselves to far out, probably told him to take a rest.
He’s been a nice story this season. Solid OBP and improving defense.
He was probably trying to tough it out. No need to do that.
Nice OBP, improving defense, but I don’t think it was smart to draft a firstbaseman with his tools with such a high draft pick.
You can win with players like him, but you don’t win because of players like him. I like spending high pick on players upside, especially on a team with so few upside players.
Completely agree.
This might hurt his ability to drive the baseball.
He hits like Wally Joyner.
Wally Joyner hit 34 HRs.
In his seven years with the Angels, Joyner slugged 450.
I think Schanuel upside, if everything breaks perfectly, is Mike Hargrove. Hargrove was drafted in the 25th Round. Joyner in the 3rd.
He was a very safe, high floor, low ceiling player.
I said at the time he’d likely have more value than your typical player.
That kind of player is not who I think they should be drafting at 11. Not when a team needs a difference maker.
It doesn’t mean I’m right, but nothing that has followed has change my mind.
I would not have drafted a first baseman with no bat speed that high regardless of his hit tool.
I think I’ve been really consistent on that, and I haven’t changed my mind.
The overall strategy of drafting Schanuel 11th – in a top heavy but otherwise weaker draft – is so you can go over slot with HS players lower in the draft.
With a weaker draft class, that strategy was unnecessary.
The Halos were successful using that strategy last year, nabbing Trey Gregory-Alford in the 11th round for a huge $2M signing bonus. This could be the steal of that draft the way TGA looks early on.
But in 2023, they were only able to grab Barret Kent in the 8th round at $1M. Kind of a waste, even if Kent pans out.
(This past draft appears that this strategy has worked again, as they nabbed 4 overslot HS players; and Bremner was highly regarded preseason before having an up-and-down season at UCSB. I still would have preferred a power hitting 3B, but…)
So, in the 2023 draft, they should have foregone the “overslot” strategy and simply grabbed a higher ranked player.
Examples that year include Shaw, McGonigle, Teel, Thomas White, Cooper Pratt, and a few others that are Top 100 ranked.
Or – maybe they really thought Schanuel was better than others said.
Statistically, he doesn’t look like a steal. Doing well in class A, didn’t do well in rookie ball
Yes, but Joyner hit those 34 HRs during the juiced ball 1987 season, where many had a surge in HR production.
True, but still had a 450 slugging pct,
You’re tough to please lol.
Assuming you’re talking about TGA, you’re not looking close enough. After a brief intro into pro ball, he’s been lights out since June.
12 games, 60 IP and a 1.51 ERA. That’s…pretty good.
BA had him ranked as a Top 100 prospect in 2023, #7 HS RHP. 6’5″ 235 lbs who touches 99 mph. Fastball grade of 65.
Control, which had been the knock on him, appears drastically improved.
Regarding the Angels scouting, this could be the proverbial blind squirrel finding an acorn?
As far as this year, it’s only A ball of course, but if he can keep this up, I’ll stand by my words – he would be a steal.
Wade Boggs hit 24 home runs that year. 1987 doesn’t count,
I’m pretty easy to please. When people I listen to and read, report you are good, and data supports it, I’m pleased.
If Fangraphs comes out next year and says this guy is good, I’m pleased.
It’s not like I’m such a gifted scout I know better than the experts.
I owe you apology. Baseball America had a glowing report on this guy. I’m excited.
That’s really all I need. If someone on the Angels claim something, it doesn’t mean it’s true, they are suppose to sell the team, and I pretty much dismiss their sales pitch every-time, but BA is no joke,
I’m excited about TGA too. He’s a long way off still but at least he’s got ability.
I’m still not sure how the Angels scouting dept pulled this off lol.
A major firm pushing one of our minor league guys is enough for me.
He seems like he is gonna be a fine regular and Neto has been the best of his draft class so far, say what you will about the Angels but the jury is still out on this new strategy.
No, he wasn’t promoted too early and he has held his own since coming to the majors. He’s underrated because a lot of his value comes from his solid OBP. Other teams need to start promoting their guys earlier, rather than engaging in the usual service time manipulation.
I think the promoting too early thing is overblown. The players they’ve promoted quickly have generally been successful. I don’t think Neto and Schanuel are worse than they otherwise would be because they moved quickly.
And realistically, those guys were promoted like 6 months before other organizations would have promoted them with how productive they were in the minors
Schanuel isn’t the issue. He is decent and improving.
The bigger issue is the pitching. Moreno refuses to spend on pitching. Under Minasian, the Angels have spent a lot of draft capital on pitching. None have panned out. The Angels haven;t had any pan out since the likes of Lackey and Weaver in the early 2000.
Minasian finally convinced Moreno to invest in development and the Angels opened a new development center this year. Early signs seem promising as the team won their first rookie ball championship and the 55ers are first in the 2nd half standings. It doesn;t mean much to the major league team as it is just low minor league. Maybe they have a chance to develop talent now that they have been given the tools in order to do so.
Some early signs on the younger pitchers is encouraging, Ryan Johnson, Dylan Jordan, Barrett Kent, TGA are all doing well in the lower levels of the minors, We will see how they progress in the upper levels. If they continue to fail, then the Angels will continue down this downward trajectory.
Moreno has shown that he will spend big on position players, however the Angels have never spent $100M on a pitcher. Moreno has said during negotiating with Weaver and Greinke that he has a hard time paying a pitcher that only plays every fifth day over $20M per year.. They Angels rarely have went over the $20M/yr for a pitcher and have never went over $100M to sign a pitcher. By comparison, the Mariners who have a much smaller budget have done so at least 3 times, Felix Hernandez, Robbie Ray, and Luis Castillo. Minasian seems focused on developing pitchers, but we will believe it when we see it. Developing pitching from within is the only hope the team has to win and until they do so, they will continue to lose.
Wasn’t your all-star this year a free agent pitcher?
Good post.
Yes, the lower level pitching is encouraging, and you didn’t even include Chris Cortez. But yeah, they all have a long ways to go.
The upper levels still have a lot of fixing to do. Dana’s 13k performance, possibly due to better usage of his 2 seamer, along with his slider, is encouraging, but I need to see more of that to believe it.
Klassen’s peripherals are solid, but again, the skeptic in me would like to see some real results beyond the peripherals.
Aldagherri, Jack K, and Maderos do not inspire me.