Improvements Are Easy To See For Angels’ Nolan Schanuel
Nolan Schanuel looked a little lost at the plate last summer in the Cape Cod League. The Florida Atlantic rising junior hit .200 with one home run, 11 RBIs, 24 strikeouts and 24 walks in 36 games.
Six months later, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound first baseman was so locked in–he led Division I hitters with a 1.476 OPS—that the Angels drafted him 11th overall.
Schanuel added strength and gained comfort with the leg kick he began using in college, but the biggest factor in the lefthanded hitter’s quantum leap may have been the contact lens he began wearing in his right eye in January.
“I was struggling during my sophomore spring with seeing at night, and I noticed it throughout the Cape Cod League season,” Schanuel said. “I waited until I got home to go to the eye doctor, and they found out I had an astigmatism in my right eye.”
The 21-year-old was fitted with a contact lens.
“Being able to see the spin of the ball directly out of the pitcher’s hand helped me so much,” Schanuel said. “I think that was a big reason why my walk-to-strikeout ratio was so much better than it was in prior years.”
Schanuel drew 71 walks against 14 strikeouts in 59 games as an FAU junior.
Schanuel signed for a full-slot bonus of $5.235 million and quickly ascended to Double-A Rocket City, much like 2022 first-rounder Zach Neto.
Schanuel’s development also was purred by the input of first-year FAU hitting coach Ricky Santiago.
“He worked on sinking into my back hip a little more and really focusing on my back knee and the external rotation in that,” Schanuel said. “It helped me stay balanced throughout my whole at-bat and not give away as many at-bats.”
Schanuel has exceptional contact abilities and plate discipline. He has more of a hit-over-power profile but can drive the ball to both gaps. He should develop into a 20-homer hitter.
Schanuel holds his hands high above his head in his setup, but gets his bat through the hitting zone quickly and efficiently, with minimal extra movement in his swing.
