Angels select Nolan Schanuel, reinstate Logan O'Hoppe, place CJ Cron on 10-day IL, DFA Chad Wallach, move Rendon to 60-day IL

[aznhockeyguy]

Not surprised.  Thought he would come up in September instead.

[Angelsjunky]

Did someone mention David Clyde? Perma-ban.

Dave Winfield also skipped the minors, I believe.

[Angelsjunky]

1 hour ago, Skips said:

This organization is so, so weird.  I feel like it's a monkey continually throwing their poop on the wall to see what sticks.

Yes

[gurn67]

Some surprising stats The Angels are 27th in OPS this season by their first basemen, but 11th in RBI's. The Astros are 28th in OPS. Abreu's been a bust, but he does hit will with RISP .827 OPS

Angels are 29th in walks 28th in OBP. Schanuel should help them there. He's got some of the craziest BB/K ratios I've ever seen.

138 BB to 57 K in college and 21 to 10 in his brief time in the minor leagues. That's Wade Boggs like numbers. With the Red Sox, Boggs walked 1004 times and only struck out 470 times. 

[Jason]

They have nothing left play for so may as well see what your future talent has. 

[Angelsjunky]

I'd happily take a poor man's Wade Boggs, or even a poor poor man's Boggs.

Boggs was a fun player - a guy who really knew how to use his home park to his advantage, regularly hitting doubles off the Green Monster that would be fly-outs in many other ballparks. Definitely one of the top two or three hitters of the 80s; gotta love four straight years above a .450 OBP. Plus he was a bit of a character...I believe he sometimes drank about 50 beers on flights.

Edited August 18, 2023 by Angelsjunky

[UndertheHalo]

I don’t know anything so I’m not going to have a strong opinion here but I can’t think of another club behaving this way with its prospects in all the years I’ve watched baseball.  I would hope that they are calling him up because they think it benefits his development.  I sort of don’t understand how 14 games at AA and then zip! Up to the majors accomplishes that.  But like I said.  I don’t know anything.  

[Chuck]

Scouting Report

Schanuel was the best performer across Division-1 baseball in 2023, barely missing out on the slash line Triple Crown, leading the nation in on-base percentage, falling just .002 short of the batting title, and .047 short of the slugging title which went to a player at the high-elevation Brigham Young. Regardless of falling short of a fun title, Schanuel put up video game numbers slashing .447/.615/.868 with 71 walks to 14 strikeouts and 19 home runs to boot, leading to plenty of first-round chatter and the eventual 11th overall selection by the Angels.

Schanuel's offensive operation begins with an unorthodox setup with a high hand load and exaggerated leg kick (though not to point of Zach Neto, Josh Donaldson, Bo Bichette, etc.). It's a load you'd likely see more overseas in Asia, but Schanuel does a fine job of keeping his body and swing in sync throughout the process putting him in a good hitting position at separation. As he comes out of his load, Schanuel has a balanced uphill swing from the left side with some explosion to the ball. He has shown good barrel control with above-average bat speed, giving him an above-average or plus future hit tool and with the present physical maturation to his six-foot-four, 220-pound frame with natural strength average-or-better power projection. Schanuel is a highly disciplined hitter who has an excellent eye for the zone, who rarely chases out of the zone and can punish pitches in the zone, with an approach that helped carry him into first-round status. There were questions about Schanuel's actual hit tool -- particularly with a wood bat -- after hitting just .200 in 125 at bats in the Cape Cod League in 2022 and coming from a mid-major conference with limited velocity. However, Schanuel had a realization that something was off and had an eye doctor appointment that led to an Astigmatism diagnosis and a corrective contact placed in his right eye in January of 2023. Schanuel noted his vision went to four-dimensional status from that point and he felt like a new hitter which should give more confidence in his long-term ability to hit. He also has a short track record against some major programs, albeit coming from midweek games and lesser on-mound prospects.

An average runner, Schanuel has enough speed to keep catchers honest but likely will never be a double-digit base stealer. The Angels will hold Schanuel to first base at least until instructional league where he could see time in the corner outfield. Schanuel is a good defender at the bag and has some athleticism that could lead to corner versatility, with personal comments about hoping to be a utility man at the next level with time at third and second base, though the Angels did not express those similar feelings initially. With so much promise on the bat, Schanuel is a high-floor type collegiate with outstanding performances under his belt and hopes that everything will translate to become a middle-of-the-order hitter in the future.

Tim McIlvaine on Nolan Schanuel: "Nolan did a lot of things that we really liked and that we sought out to look for. He's got power. He can hit. He knows the zone. He's very patient. He doesn't get himself out. He rarely ever strikes out. Took a lot of walks this year, had a lot of extra-base hits, and can hit the ball over the wall. He's a good player. He's a really good baseball mind when you sit down and talk to him. He understands hitting. He understands his swing. He understands what he's trying to do at the plate and what makes him successful. There's a lot of pieces that go into it but first and foremost we liked his bat. We think he's going to be a pretty good hitter for us... This guy is wired right. I think he's a really good competitor. He really wants to win. He's made himself better and he's going to make us better. He really makes you like him."

Nolan Schanuel 2023 NCAA Division-1 statistics: 289 PA, .447/.615/.868, 70 R, 19 HR, 64 RBI, 14 SB, 24.6 BB%, 4.8 K%

[Brian Ilten]

2 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

At least on land he did.

Some believe he took care of Wood on sea as well... Just sayin'

[Dtwncbad]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

I need a blind emoji apparently. 

I don’t see one.

[Brian Ilten]

1 hour ago, Skips said:

This organization is so, so weird.  I feel like it's a m0nkey continually throwing his poop on the wall to see what sticks.

Fixed!

[Chuck]

1 minute ago, Dtwncbad said:

I don’t see one.

[T.G.]

You guys forgot about Ralston...

[NJHalo]

My friend's daughters know him well as they both play on the FAU girls softball team. They are so excited for him and say he is such a good kid. 

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

EDDIE BANE SIGHTING!! 

I should have known this. 

For all of you newcomers, the Angels Scouting Director Eddie Bane used to do a monthly chat roundup with us. He was the best! 

Here's all of those chat transcripts from yesteryear. Good stuff on scouting Mike Trout and much more more. 

 

[LaPalma]

54 minutes ago, Dtwncbad said:

It’s way too soon to even entertain the idea that it’s way too soon.

Was Neto way too soon?  That dude is a fucking ballplayer and it sure looks like he 100% belongs.

So maybe STFU was a little edgy, but the message really wasn’t wrong.

How about STFU until we see this guy play?

So you don’t think we have a recent history of pushing players up too fast, to their detriment?  I strongly disagree.  Maybe when we were in the playoff hunt it made sense.  Now it seems desperate and prone to be backfiring.

[Stradling]

I think it is perfectly fine to challenge a player like this.  They aren’t bringing him up to be the missing piece to make a push to the playoffs.  They know the mental make up of those players better than anyone.  Detmers was fine, Joyce was fine, Silseth was fine, Moderos will be fine, Neto has been great.  So if we want to talk about Adell, then sure.  Who else?

[LaPalma]

27 minutes ago, gurn67 said:

Some surprising stats The Angels are 27th in OPS this season by their first basemen, but 11th in RBI's. The Astros are 28th in OPS. Abreu's been a bust, but he does hit will with RISP .827 OPS

Angels are 29th in walks 28th in OBP. Schanuel should help them there. He's got some of the craziest BB/K ratios I've ever seen.

138 BB to 57 K in college and 21 to 10 in his brief time in the minor leagues. That's Wade Boggs like numbers. With the Red Sox, Boggs walked 1004 times and only struck out 470 times. 

Because AA is just like the big leagues.  Last I’ll say about it, I think it’s a mistake.  Like so many of our prospects we rush, he’ll look good for a short time, pitchers will figure him out, and it will end badly.

[Chuck]

2 hours ago, Chuckster70 said:

I wonder if the Angels don't actually call him up until tomorrow to keep his rookie status for next year to get a possible extra draft pick, or keep his PA's under the 130 threshold? 

 

[DMVol]

1 minute ago, LaPalma said:

Because AA is just like the big leagues.  Last I’ll say about it, I think it’s a mistake.  Like so many of our prospects we rush, he’ll look good for a short time, pitchers will figure him out, and it will end badly.

Too broad a brush.....Silseth seems to have rebounded pretty well from a rough start his first time up...

[LaPalma]

Just now, Stradling said:

I think it is perfectly fine to challenge a player like this.  They aren’t bringing him up to be the missing piece to make a push to the playoffs.  They know the mental make up of those players better than anyone.  Detmers was fine, Joyce was fine, Silseth was fine, Moderos will be fine, Neto has been great.  So if we want to talk about Adell, then sure.  Who else?

I would argue that Detmers has been anything but fine.  One game in which the opposing team was mailing it in doesn’t make up for his performance.

Joyce with his 2+ WHIP?

I could go on but let’s just see how it plays out.

[Dtwncbad]

13 minutes ago, LaPalma said:

So you don’t think we have a recent history of pushing players up too fast, to their detriment?

No.  If you look at any group of promoted players in any organization you will find some examples of players that struggle in their first taste of the big leagues and have to go back down.

I do not see any unique pattern of this with the Angels versus other teams.

And by the way, a players stats is not the measurement of whether or not the promotion was a “detriment” to their development.  Players need to be challenged and figure out what needs work and what it takes at the mlb level.  The experience is highly valuable even in “failure.”  That’s is often just part of the process. 

Edited August 18, 2023 by Dtwncbad

[mmc]

I don't understand why people act like the call-ups themselves may be premature.  Keeping a struggling young player in the majors who exposes themselves as not ready would be something to criticize for sure, but I don't think Perry has done that yet.

[Stradling]

Mailing it in?  Cute. Detmers was decent his rookie year, better than league average last year.  So being rushed now shows up in year three, then sure. 

[AngelStew43]

1 hour ago, Jimmy Z said:

we still believing in this dude?

If he can recover the stuff that I saw when he pitched, yes.  He may not pan out as a starter, but as a one-inning guy, I think he'd be very good.