Nolan Schanuel sits against southpaw on Sunday

Ballesteros has now started four of the last six games at either first base or designated hitter. The Angels are also carrying two other catchers on their roster, so it seems like they will limit how many starts Ballesteros makes behind the dish for the remainder of the season. That has meant Vaughn Grissom has played more third base and Oswald Peraza has shifted to the bench.

Guzman started 15 of the Angels’ 17 games from Aug. 12-30, but he’s taking a backseat to Oswald Peraza now, even though Peraza is batting .155 in 67 plate appearances int he second half and last drove in a run on July 19. The Angels might be trying to figure out whether Peraza should be in their plans for 2027. Guzman, who is still just 22 and has a couple of option years left after this one, isn’t under that kind of pressure.

Grissom’s last hit was a 391-foot double to left that would have been a homer in 26 ballparks. In Angel Stadium, it really ought to have been caught, but Cody Bellinger just didn’t get a good jump on it. Grissom’s .249/.311/.389 line isn’t especially impressive, and his future as a long-term regular is far from secure. Still, his approach is pretty good, and at age 25, he could get a little stronger. He should be close to clinching a spot on the 2027 Angels, even if he might not deserve to be penciled into the starting lineup.

Grissom hit a two-run homer in the first inning off a wholly ineffective Gavin Williams, and then took Logan Allen deep in the fifth. The 25-year-old is just organizational depth at this stage in his career, but it’s fun to be reminded why Grissom was considered a potential star when coming up in the Atlanta organization.

Christian Moore is up to replace him, so we’ll likely see a lot of him at second and Vaughn Grissom at first. No word yet on what kind of absence we’re looking at for Schanuel, who has hit .276/.351/.385 in 446 plate appearances, but he can be dropped in shallow leagues.

Schanuel made an early exit from Thursday’s thrashing of the Astros due to soreness in his right side. He was unlikely to start on Friday night with left-hander MacKenzie Gore taking the hill for the Rangers, but Schanuel has yet to even attempt to swing to determine whether or not he’ll be available off the bench. He’s considered day-to-day.

Grissom delivered an RBI single in the second inning that tied the game at 2-2, then came around to score the go-ahead run on a bunt by Tyler Heineman. He then added a two-run double in the fourth that pushed their advantage to 10-2. The 25-year-old has at least held his own at the MLB level this season, slashing .249/.308/.377 with seven long balls and 50 RBI in 329 plate appearances.

Along with collecting 100 percent of the game’s runs batted in, Schanuel had one more hit than the Royals lineup tonight. He also drove in four runs Friday, and he’s now up to .279/.356/.392 on the season. It’s disappointing he hasn’t added any power at age 24, but he’s on pace for a 2.5-2.8 WAR season, which is a nice improvement from the last two years. He had totaled 2.9 bWAR in 308 career games coming into 2026.

Schanuel came through with a bases-clearing three-run double off of Seth Lugo in the third inning that tied the score at 3-3. He also added an RBI single in the fifth that knotted things up at 5-5. Even without the prototypical power production at first base, Schanuel is having a decent season for the Halos, slashing .273/.351/.387 with seven long balls and 46 RBI in 430 plate appearances.

Peraza was hit by a 95-mph fastball in the sixth inning, and though he stayed in to run, he was replaced by Adam Frazier the following inning.