Nolan

Schanuel

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.

Schanuel will take a seat with left-hander Noah Cameron getting the ball for the Royals in this one. Vaughn Grissom will cover first base in his absence while Oswald Peraza starts at second base and will bat seventh for the Halos.

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.

Not known as a home run hitter, Schanuel’s seventh of the season proved to be the critical blow in a game that his Angels won by the skin of their teeth. To go along with those seven home runs, Schanuel has a .273 batting average and .737 OPS across 96 games.

Schanuel hit balls 105.1 and 103.4 mph tonight, though the harder of those was actually a 337-foot lineout. It’s just the third time this year that he’s hit multiple 100-mph balls in the same game and second time that didn’t involve facing Patrick Corbin. Three of his seven hardest-hit balls on the year, including the 105.1 mph shot tonight, have come in the last week, which can’t be a bad sign.

He had only one hard-hit ball, but Schanuel sent everything to the right spots tonight. It’s his second four-hit game as a major leaguer, with the other coming last July against the Mets. He’s hitting an adequate .269/.339/.393 on the season, but he still isn’t showing much in the way of upside.

Schanuel put the Angels on the board right away, taking Shane Baz deep for a two-run blast in the first inning. He later added a base hit in the fifth. The 24-year-old first baseman has collected two hits in each of his last three games and has homered in two of his last five. He’s batting .266/.332/.399 with six homers, 26 runs scored, and 30 RBI across 259 plate appearances.

The Angels appear to be easing Grissom back into action, as he started two straight games after coming off the injured list on Wednesday. Expect him to be back in there on Saturday. Nolan Schanuel is at first base and batting second for the Halos against opposing left-hander Jeffrey Springs on Friday evening in West Sacramento.