Despite a struggling franchise, Angels' first baseman Nolan Schanuel earns honorable mention, aiming to unleash his power and become a top young talent.
Despite suffering through losing baseball for over a decade now, the Los Angeles Angels don’t have much young talent to show for it. In Bleacher Report’s recent article ranking MLB’s top 25 players under 25 years old, not a single Angels player made the cut.
It’s the consequence of a team that has refused to rebuild for years despite a rebuild being the glaringly obvious need. With owner Arte Moreno calling the shots, however, the club’s strategy will remain the same, and the output will likely remain the same as well – many, many losses.
Though the Angels didn’t have a player in the top 25 of the list, they did see one of their players mentioned as an honorable mention – first baseman Nolan Schanuel. Entering his third full season in the major leagues at 24 years old, Schanuel is looking to take a big stride in 2026.
Since he got his first taste of MLB action just 40 days after being drafted in 2023, Schanuel has established himself as a great on-base batter. He has a career on-base percentage of .353 and has been one of the more reliable batters in the Angels lineup over the past couple of years.
While he’s proven himself as a tough out, he has yet to prove himself as the most threatening hitter. His career .371 slugging percentage puts him well below league average despite having a very respectable six-foot-two-inch, 220-pound frame. For a first baseman that size, you’d expect Schanuel to be a home run threat every time he steps up to the plate.
He hasn't been that in his career so far, but he’s still young and is committing to improving his slugging in 2026. Schanuel has worked to increase his bat speed using underweighted/weighted bats as a response to ranking near the bottom of the league in the metric. Launch angle has also been an area of focus for Schanuel, and he’s seen improvement in the area year after year.
Schanuel clearly knows his weakness and is working hard to become a more well-rounded bat, and Angels’ manager Kurt Suzuki is confident that the power will come.
“You get older, you get that daddy strength,” Suzuki said. “The power's gonna come, and in my experience, I played with a lot of guys that really learned how to hit when they were younger, and as they got older, the power came, but they weren’t trying to produce it.”
He just barely missed the cut of Bleacher Report’s ranking, but he still has a great opportunity to establish himself as one of the best young talents in baseball this season. If he keeps his strengths at the plate while increasing his power, the Angels could have one of the most dangerous hitters at the first base position on their hands.