Los Angeles Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel is less than a week into his MLB career – which started far earlier than anticipated – and he keeps making history.
The Angels' game against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday was postponed, resulting in a double-header to close out the series on Wednesday. Schanuel went 3-for-4 with five walks, an RBI and a run across the two games.
According to MLB.com's Sarah Langs, Schanuel became the first rookie to reach base eight times in a double-header since Hideki Matsui, who got aboard nine times for the New York Yankees on June 28, 2003.
Schanuel is now batting .368 with a .907 OPS through six MLB appearances, reaching base at least once in every game. The 2023 first round pick out of Florida Atlantic entered Wednesday with a .267 batting average and .620 OPS.
Schanuel came in to pinch hit for Shohei Ohtani in game one on Wednesday when the MVP favorite was pulled from the game with arm fatigue, which turned out to be a tear in his UCL. In Ohtani's place at designated hitter, Schanuel went 1-for-1 with a single and three walks.
The Angels failed to drive in Schanuel all four times he reached base, though, and they lost 9-4.
In game two, Schanuel led off and started at first base. The rookie went 2-for-3 with two walks, slapping an RBI single up the middle in the second and coming across to score in the fifth.
Los Angeles still lost 7-3, dropping to 61-67 and slashing their Wild Card hopes lower than they've been all season. According to FanGraphs, the Angels have a 0.0% chance of making the postseason, even though they are technically only 10.5 games out of the Wild Card with 34 contests left on the schedule.
It probably doesn't help that Ohtani and Mike Trout both look poised to hit the injured list, with the latter only returning to play one game coming off a seven-week absence.
The Angels have Thursday off, then are slated to open up a road series against the New York Mets on Friday.
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