The Los Angeles Angels (12-13) are starting to look like the ballclub fans have seen far too much of over the last decade. An auspicious 9-5 start to the 2025 MLB season has since faded, with the Halos dropping two out of three games to the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates and getting thumped 11-4 by the Minnesota Twins on Friday. Yes, it is not even May yet, but the usual misfortune is beginning to emerge in Anaheim. One of the team’s key players just suffered a worrisome injury.
Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel fouled a ball off his right knee in the fourth inning of Saturday’s matchup versus Minnesota, immediately bent over in pain and struggled to put weight on his leg, per MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. He exited the game.
Nolan Schanuel fouled a ball off his right knee and had to leave the game. He had trouble putting weight on his leg as he left the field. pic.twitter.com/6QTmBIXrsn
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) April 26, 2025
Angels need their young guys to stay on the field
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Schanuel, the No. 11 overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, was 0-for-2 at the plate and is now batting .247 with two home runs and a .382 slugging percentage. The twins lead the Angels 5-1 in the ninth inning at time of print. If he is forced to miss extended time, manager Ron Washington will not have a clear replacement option at first. Hopefully, for the sake of the player and ballclub, Schanuel gets some good news in the coming days.
The organization showed considerable faith in the 23-year-old left-handed hitter, calling him up only 40 days after selecting him in the draft. Although he has yet to live up to expectations, Nolan Schanuel has held his own through the first 200-plus games of his MLB career. He hit 13 homers and 54 RBIs last season, posting a league-average 100 OPS+.
Schanuel’s development will ideally progress with more reps. That might not happen for a bit, though. The Angels await word on his condition. In the meanwhile, they need to garner some momentum. Although it is extremely early in the campaign, things can get out of hand rather quickly in the wild American League West.
It is a tight race at the moment, however, with only two and a half game separating last-place Los Angeles from the division-leading Texas Rangers. But keeping faith is understandably a trying task for this fan base.
