CHICAGO — Earlier this season, when Angels manager Ron Washington noticed that Nolan Schanuel didn’t seem to have enough energy early in the day, he began benching his rookie first baseman for day games.
Schanuel finally got fed up with this, went into his manager’s office, and announced: “I’m ready to play.”
Washington agreed, and he changed the lineup. He said it hasn’t been an issue since then.
“He’s figuring it out mentally,” Washington said on Tuesday. “When his body told him that something wasn’t right, it affected him mentally. Sometime in July, he turned it, where the mind started telling the body what to do. He pushed through it. Now he’s figuring out, ‘Wow, I can do this.’ Going into next year, he’s going to be much stronger for it.”
Schanuel, 22, is nearing the end of his first major league season, but it’s also his first professional season. He was in college last year. The Angels’ first-round draft pick last July, Schanuel didn’t play his first professional game until July 21 and he was in the majors on Aug. 18.
To say it’s been a whirlwind is an understatement. It took Schanuel a while into this season to really learn what it took to play every day in the majors.
“Coming to the field knowing we had a game every day, it was kind of different for me,” Schanuel said. “Just getting used to that. Once that kind of clicked, it just became easier.”
Schanuel began the season hitting .093 with a .422 OPS in his first 14 games. Ever since then – save for a two-week stretch in late May and early June when he played through a back injury – Schanuel has been on a steady climb.
He is clearly trying to sprint through the tape, so to speak, bringing a 13-game hitting streak into the final six games of the season. Schanuel has hit .370 with a .933 OPS in the streak.
For the season, he’s hitting .246 with a .346 on-base percentage and a .712 OPS. The major league OPS at first base is .735.
“Hitting-wise, my whole philosophy was getting on base for the guys behind me,” Schanuel said. “I think I kind of stuck with that same approach. Just set up the guys behind you, help the team win. … I pride myself on that. Just get on base, help the team win. Something I need to work on is the slug and helping get the guys in, scoring runs and getting some RBIs.”
Schanuel has hit 13 home runs, which is low for a first baseman but better than many expected based on his low exit velocity. Schanuel said increasing his bat speed is one of his goals for the offseason.
Washington said Schanuel has steadily improved across the board during his first season.
“Total growth,” Washington said. “He’s become different in many ways. He’s learning about his capabilities at the plate. He’s turning himself into a great first baseman. Yes, it’s going to be a couple more years before he arrived there, but if you’d have seen him in spring training, you wouldn’t have thought that he would be doing what he’s doing right now.”
NOTES
Asked if the Angels will be bringing back all of their coaches, Washington said: “Yes, I anticipate everyone coming back.” …
Outfielder Jordyn Adams remains out of the lineup because of right knee soreness. Washington said he’s day to day. …
The Angels still have not officially said that third baseman Anthony Rendon will be out for the rest of the season with his oblique injury, even though it’s now obvious that there’s not enough time for him to return. “We’re still working through that,” Washington said. “We haven’t made a total decision on that yet. We’re still working through it. If you make a common sense deduction you can answer that one.”
UP NEXT
Angels (LHP José Suarez, 1-2, 6.08 ERA) at White Sox (RHP Davis Martin, 0-5, 4.27 ERA), Wednesday, 4:40 p.m. PT, Bally Sports West, 830 AM
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