TEMPE, Ariz. — In the first inning of a Cactus League game last week, Nolan Schanuel stepped to the plate after Taylor Ward had led off the inning with a double.
Schanuel pulled a ground ball to second base, and Ward took third. Ward then scored on a Mike Trout sacrifice fly.
A day later, Angels manager Ron Washington was beaming, optimistic that the Angels’ rookie first baseman could play a key role in generating runs.
“He’s capable of doing that with consistency, and he might be able to do it with perfection,” Washington said. “Because of his bat-to-ball skill, I think that boy can pull the ball on the ground anytime he wants to.”
Schanuel made a name for himself last year by reaching the majors less than two months after he was drafted out of Florida Atlantic University. He then reached base with a hit or a walk in every one of the 29 games he played, giving him a .402 on-base percentage. He drew 20 walks, while striking out 19 times. The major league average is 2.6 strikeouts per walk.
Schanuel’s plate discipline was so advanced that a case could have been made for him to begin the 2024 season in the same leadoff spot where he hit in 2023. Washington, who is heading into his first season with the team, initially planned for that, but he quickly determined that dropping Schanuel into the No. 2 spot made more sense, because he could still get on base, but also use his situational hitting skills to move runners over or get them in.
“I love that,” Washington said of Schanuel’s groundout. “To me, that’s a base hit, because he put us in a position to score a run with Mike Trout coming up.”
Washington estimated that, over a full season, Schanuel is going to have 70 or 80 plate appearances in which the game situation for call for something like that.
“His other 500 or so, he can do what the hell he wants,” Washington said.
Those plate appearances will largely determine how the rest of baseball is going to measure Schanuel’s…
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