Nolan Schanuel Is the Angels’ Latest Development Failure

Over the last decade or so, the Los Angeles Angels have made a name for themselves for failing to develop high draft picks to their full potential and rushing them to the majors. It’s been a consistent trend in which so many of the club’s top-round draft selections are a complete bust or just don’t contribute in the way that was hoped.

The Angels had a stretch from 2016 to 2019 where almost none of their top draft picks ended up working out for the ballclub. This crop of players includes: Matt Thaiss (2016), Brandon Marsh (2016), Jo Adell (2017), Griffin Canning (2017), Jordyn Adams (2018), Jeremiah Jackson (2018), Will Wilson (2019), and Kyren Paris (2019).

Some of these players were complete disappointments, while others took longer than expected to develop or didn’t contribute at the major league level as was hoped. Marsh is an All-Star for the Phillies this year, while the player he was traded for, catcher Logan O’Hoppe, has struggled.

More recently, the Angels selected Christian Moore and Ryan Johnson with their first and third picks of the 2024 draft. 

Johnson shockingly broke camp with the team in 2025 and was thrown into the bullpen with zero minor league time. Moore debuted with the team last June but struggled during his time with the club. He’s had a couple more stints with the MLB club since and hasn’t looked comfortable.

When the Angels found themselves with the eighth overall pick in the 2023 draft, they made a surprising choice, selecting first baseman Nolan Schanuel out of Florida Atlantic University. It was certainly a shock to fans for the club to take a player who was only pinned as the 26th best prospect in the class by MLB Pipeline.

At the time, the organization felt like they had selected their first baseman of the future – and the future came quickly. Schanuel debuted just over a month after he was drafted. Yet, four years into his young career, he still hasn’t fully developed into the player the Angels had hoped for.

What the Angels Hoped For, and What They Got

Coming out of college, Schanuel showed an elite ability to hit for a high average while also getting on base at a high clip. He even showed plus power, totaling 19 home runs during his final season at Florida Atlantic.

A very concerning aspect of Schanuel’s journey to the big leagues was that his road to the show didn’t last very long. After being drafted on July 9, 2023, he only waited 40 days before the organization promoted him to the majors. He would debut for the Angels on August 18.

Schanuel showed right when he debuted his ability to reach base at a high rate. After logging a single and a walk during his major league debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, he went on to reach base in 30 straight games – the third-longest on-base streak to begin a career in MLB history.

He fared quite well during his 2023 debut season, in which he hit for a .275 batting average while getting on base at an excellent .402 rate. While the bat-to-ball skills were present, however, he lacked power, with only four of his 30 hits going for extra bases, including one home run.

Now three years removed from Schanuel’s debut season, the power still isn’t clicking. He only has 32 home runs across four seasons, with his season high of 13 set in 2024. Presently, Schanuel only has six home runs as we enter the All-Star break, signaling that he is on pace for another 12-14 home run season.

It’s not like he’s been unlucky when it comes to home runs because his average exit velocity, barrel rate, hard-hit rate, and expected slugging percentage metrics have all sat well below league average each year. It might be safe to say that Schanuel’s current power production is what we have to get used to for the rest of his career.

Entering the 2023 draft, Schanuel’s hit tool was graded to be his best attribute. He currently owns a .275 batting average and a .262 career mark. An interesting note is that his expected batting average each year matches up almost perfectly with his real average — that indicates that his batting average isn’t likely to go up unless he makes a meaningful change.

The third component of Schanuel’s offensive profile besides his power and hit tools is his plate discipline. His approach at the plate has actually been very good and consistent since he debuted. He has drawn walks 10.7% of the time while only striking out at a 14.8% rate. That said, his walk rate has seen a dip this year, down to a league-average 8.1% mark.

While his defense has taken a step for the better this season, it’s not been good in the past and adds another reason why the first baseman might not be as valuable to the future as once thought. On top of that, his sprint speed ranks in the 17th percentile, making him a liability on the bases.

Is Schanuel the Angels’ Long-Term Answer at First Base?

All in all, Schanuel isn’t a bad player, but it seems that he hasn’t been able to tap into his full potential. It’s a bit concerning considering the fact that he’s already in the midst of his fourth MLB season. 

This could definitely be a result of the Angels only giving him 22 games in the minors to develop before promoting him to the majors. The organization’s failure to develop players correctly seems to have affected Schanuel, along with a handful of others.

From a positive angle, Schanuel has the best batting average among Angels qualified hitters and brings a solid approach to the plate. For an offense that leads the majors in strikeouts, Schanuel is doing his part to dampen the damage by only fanning in 15% of his plate appearances.

If he can boost his batting average, get on base at a higher clip, and increase his power game, Schanuel will add a lot more value to an inconsistent Angels lineup. During his time at Florida Atlantic, he walked at an insane 17% mark, proving that he’s got an eye for the strike zone.

For where the Angels stand right now, Schanuel is in a spot to remain the starting first baseman for the foreseeable future. There isn’t much top-tier depth at the position in the minors, and what depth there is plays in the lower levels.

The club is not in a spot to contend right now, so it’s not worth the money to go grab a top-tier first baseman in free agency. They could turn to the trade market, but it seems unlikely that the Angels will remove Schanuel from a starting role any time soon.