Major League Baseball

Angels call up 1B Nolan Schanuel less than six weeks after drafting him

Published Aug. 18, 2023 1:58 p.m. ET

The Los Angeles Angels are calling up Double-A first baseman Nolan Schanuel less than six weeks after the organization took the 21-year-old Florida Atlantic standout with the 11th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, per multiple reports.

Schanuel had logged fewer than 100 minor league plate appearances across 21 games before his call-up, spending a grand total of just 40 days in the minor leagues.

The 6-foot-4, 220-pound Schanuel — one of the most big league-ready hitters in this year's draft — was phenomenally productive (.447/.615/.868 with 19 home runs, 71 walks and just 14 strikeouts in 289 plate appearances) at FAU.

Schanuel's promotion by the Angels is the fastest for any player in decades and the fifth-fastest among position players in MLB Draft history, per ESPN. The last player to debut this early in his drafted season was Chris Sale, who came up about two months after the 2010 Draft.

This isn't a new move for the organization, however. The Angels called up their 2022 first-round pick, shortstop Zach Neto, after 201 minor league plate appearances. Prior to that, they also had the fastest debut from a 2021 draft pick in right-hander Chase Silseth, who became a big-leaguer in May 2022 after being taken as an 11th-round pick in 2021.

As of Friday, the Angels are currently 60-62 and seven games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final American League wild-card spot, and their playoff hopes are dwindling on the verge of Shohei Ohtani's free agency. Fangraphs pegs their playoff odds at 0.8%.

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