Schanuel’s endurance paying off — odd slash line or not

ANAHEIM — Despite being referred to as as much as the Majors simply 40 days after being taken with the No. 11 general choice within the Draft, Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel has put collectively a powerful begin to his profession.

After setting a franchise report with a 10-game hitting streak to open his profession, the leadoff man set one other mark on Thursday by reaching base safely in his sixteenth straight recreation — besting Darin Erstad’s earlier membership report of 15 video games, which Erstad achieved in 1996.

Schanuel — the Angels’ high prospect per MLB Pipeline and the No. 100 prospect in all of baseball — went 1-for-4 on Thursday towards the Guardians, slapping a single to left subject towards former teammate Matt Moore within the seventh inning to set the mark. Schanuel was additionally deliberately walked to load the bases with one out within the ninth to arrange a two-out, walk-off single from Randal Grichuk in a 3-2 win over the Guardians at Angel Stadium.

“That’s awesome, I didn’t even know,” Schanuel mentioned. “I definitely didn’t think it’d be something I’d do this early. But everybody around me has been tremendous since the moment I got into the clubhouse. Coaches have been great, teammates have been great. It’s truly a blessing.”

Schanuel, 21, has proven glorious plate self-discipline, particularly given his inexperience in professional ball. He’s walked 13 occasions and struck out simply 10 occasions in 75 plate appearances. But amongst his 17 hits, he has only one extra-base hit, a double down the right-field line on Aug. 28.

It’s led to an odd slash line of .283/.427/.300 in 16 video games, as his on-base proportion is greater than 100 factors greater than his slugging proportion. But with a 6-foot-4, 220-pound body, the Angels imagine that Schanuel’s energy will include time and extra expertise.

“If you watch him take BP, he’s hitting balls into the tunnels and over the batter’s eye,” Angels supervisor Phil Nevin mentioned. “He’s got pop in there. It’s the way he’s being pitched. He’s just so patient at the plate.”

Schanuel, although, might want to begin hitting the ball within the air extra this yr, as his common launch angle has been 2.7 levels (league common is 12.2 levels). He additionally hasn’t been blistering the baseball, as his hardest exit velocity has been 101.2 mph, which ranks within the backside sixth percentile of the league, and he’s but to report a barrel.

But it’s exhausting to search out gamers with strike zone judgment and bat management like Schanuel — and his dimension ought to permit him to finally faucet into some energy. He has an unorthodox batting stance he developed throughout his time at Florida Atlantic University that sees him maintain his arms excessive over his head earlier than unleashing a giant leg kick to get his bat by way of the zone.

Schanuel mentioned he developed it to search out extra energy in faculty and it labored, as he was maybe the most effective hitter in faculty baseball as a junior this yr, batting .447/.615/.868 with 19 homers, 18 doubles and 64 RBIs in 59 video games.

“He’s going to learn the times where he can let it go,” Nevin mentioned. “I hope he gets a couple in by the end of the season. I certainly think he’s gonna hit home runs in this league, or at least have gap-to-gap power. But what he’s doing, I don’t care how many at-bats you’ve had, I’ve never seen a player come in this early and slow things down the way he does at the plate.”

Schanuel stays modest about his manufacturing thus far, as he famous he’s nonetheless getting extra snug every day. But he credited the Angels’ teaching workers for working with him and his teammates for giving him recommendation.

“At first, I wouldn’t say I was uncomfortable, but I just wasn’t quite feeling like myself,” Schanuel mentioned. “But as the days go on and I get more and more comfortable, I’m starting to feel my feet hit the ground again. Every time I get up to the plate, I’m trying to get on base for somebody behind me and do the little things.”

Schanuel will get his probability down the stretch to audition for an even bigger function subsequent season, and Nevin has loved watching the younger phenom develop and showcase his eager eye on the plate.

“He really knows the zone,” Nevin mentioned. “When he comes down the dugout and stops and tells me that ball was a ball outside or two inches outside and you look at it, it’s a ball outside one or two inches out. He’s on it every time.”