Schanuel showing off his ‘baseball IQ’
ANAHEIM >> Nolan Schanuel couldn’t pick a highlight from his first day in the big leagues. He had too many choices.
“All of it,” the Angels’ first baseman said Saturday when asked to identify his favorite moment from his debut Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Schanuel ostensibly arrived ahead of schedule because of his bat. The 11th overall pick in the 2023 amateur draft, Schanuel hit .370 with a .510 on-base percentage over 21 games across the Rookie, Single-A and Double-A levels before the Angels purchased his contract from the Rocket City Trash Pandas.
After a couple days in the big leagues, the top Schanuel highlights have revolved more around his ability to compete at game speed on the bases and in the field — no small feat for a 21-yearold whose last game at Florida Atlantic was in May.
In the ninth inning Friday, Schanuel was the second pivot man in a rare 6-43-2 triple play. He became the first player in his debut to take part in a triple play since Kansas City Royals catcher Sal Fasano on April 3, 1996.
It was the seventh triple play in franchise history and the first since July 5, 1997.
Saturday, Schanuel scored the Angels’ third run when a passed ball got past Rays catcher Rene Pinto in the third inning, allowing him to advance 90 feet. Each was the kind of play that might require more than 21 minor league games for a player to experience first-hand. For Schanuel, his “baseball IQ” was enough to overcome his scant professional experience.
“Those are just baseballawareness, high-IQ plays, which is everything we’ve heard about him,” Angels manager Phil Nevin said of Schanuel. “He busted out of the box too, plays the game hard, plays the game right. You can look at numbers and tell when people are winning players. For two days I’ve seen a winning baseball player out there.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash noticed, too.
“I think a lot of people are going to be paying attention (to how) the Angels have been very aggressive with (2022 first-round pick Zach) Neto, then now (Schanuel), just to see how it plays out,” he said. “I’ll be interested to see from afar how he does. I certainly wish him well.”
Trout update
Mike Trout (left hamate fracture) took swings Saturday morning and afternoon, but was not cleared to return from the injured list prior to either of the Angels’ two games against the Rays.
Although Nevin said Trout was “getting real close” prior to Game 1, the decision not to activate him prior to Game 2 was not difficult — even though Trout would have had a day off Sunday and possibly Monday too, depending on the impact of rainfall left behind by Tropical Storm Hilary.
Silseth on Silseth
Chase Silseth’s hot streak — 3-0 with a 1.59 ERA in four starts since July 19 — came to an abrupt halt in
Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader.
The right-hander was pulled after allowing two home runs in the fourth inning, five runs in all, and did not factor into the decision in a 7-6 win. Afterward, Silseth said he was not “using my lower half very well,” which led to command issues with several of his pitches.
It’s the kind of mistake Silseth was not comfortable trying to correct in the middle of a game.
“You start to figure it out, and start thinking ‘my mechanics are off’ or ‘I’m out of rhythm’ … it’s hard to compete when you’re thinking too much about mechanics,” he said. “You have to trust your preparation. I didn’t trust my preparation.”
Also
Pitcher Jimmy Herget was appointed as the 27th player for the doubleheader. … The probable starters for the Angels’ series against the Reds are Lucas Giolito (Monday), Reid Detmers (Tuesday) and Shohei Ohtani (Wednesday). Cincinnati has announced that Graham Ashcraft and Andrew Abbott will start the first two games of the series. Wednesday’s starter is TBD.