TORONTO — Nolan Schanuel noticed something strange a few weeks ago.
He didn’t draw a walk in 12 consecutive games. The Angels first baseman said he had not changed anything about his plate discipline, but there was a difference in the way he was being pitched.
It then dawned on him that it was because Mike Trout was hitting behind him.
“I think with him being behind me, they were kind of trying to get me out instead of getting to him,” Schanuel said. “So I think that kind of equates to what has been happening.”
What’s been happening is that Schanuel has seen the steady improvement in his numbers continue, particularly in the power department.
Schanuel has hit five homers in his last 16 games, all of them with Trout in the on-deck circle. Schanuel overall is hitting .280 with an .839 OPS since Trout returned to the No. 3 spot. For the season, he’s up to .273 and .777.
Trout himself has been as productive as expected. Since returning from a month on the injured list he’s hitting .276 with four homers and an .826 OPS. Most of his production has been his .417 on-base percentage.
Trout has been on base for Taylor Ward and Jo Adell, who have both been on fire for at least a few weeks, and he may also be having a positive impact on Schanuel in front of him.
Schanuel is now up to eight homers, which puts him on pace to surpass the 13 that he hit last year.
He said part of that is getting better pitches to hit, which could be related to Trout hitting behind him, and it’s also because he now has the approach to go to the plate looking for a specific pitch in a specific zone, and he doesn’t swing until he gets it, or gets to two strikes.
When he gets that pitch early in the count, he’s trying to drive it, not simply punch it to left field for a single.
“That’s probably what has been the big factor in the power coming lately is hunting out a pitch and getting it,” Schanuel said. “Staying on it and hoping I get it early in the at-bat, and if I get to two strikes just trusting myself that I can make something happen.”
It’s helped Schanuel, 23, get a tangible benefit from the work he did in the offseason to improve his bat speed. His 2.9 mph increase in bat speed from 2024 to 2025 is the second-best in the majors.
“Given the fact that he came so fast to the major leagues and didn’t accumulate the AB’s to kind of learn these things he’s learning now, for me this is a natural progression,” interim manager Ray Montgomery said. “I’ve seen this with a ton of players. I’m not going to put a number on it. I’m just going to say his quality of contact and the way he can strike the baseball is going to allow for it to happen.”
Schanuel said he doesn’t have a target in mind for how many homers he can hit.
“If you set a number for yourself, that’s your top,” Schanuel said. “That’s what you’re going for, and you don’t want to go any further. But for me, I’m just gonna give it all I have. I’m gonna empty the tank every day I come to the field, and if I reach 20-whatever home runs, then great. If I reach 25, even better. I’m not gonna settle on a number, and once I reach it, be satisfied. I just want to stay hungry.”
DAY TROUBLE
The Angels will play two straight day games to finish this series in Toronto, and they’ll be looking to reverse a puzzling season-long trend.
The Angels are 34-25 in night games and 9-18 in day games. That’s even more exaggerated on the road. They are 5-12 in road day games.
Left-hander Tyler Anderson has been the symbol of the troubles. He has 3.09 ERA at night and a 5.70 ERA in the day.
“I have no idea,” Anderson said. “I wish I had an answer for you. I pretty much do the same thing for night games that I do for day games. I just do it earlier in the day. The ball probably flies better in day games, which doesn’t help me typically.”
Anderson, who starts on Sunday, acknowledged that the trouble winning day games on the road could be related to the time zone. An East Coast day game starts around 10 a.m. for someone on West Coast time.
Montgomery said he has no answers, but the Angels have tried different pregame routines to find something that works.
NOTES
Third baseman Yoán Moncada (knee inflammation) began a rehab assignment in the Arizona Complex League on Friday. Montgomery said he wasn’t sure if Moncada was able to swing from the right side yet. He has been hitting from the left side for weeks. The Angels could use a quick return from Moncada since second baseman Christian Moore is now out with a sprained thumb. …
Jorge Soler got the day off on Friday. Montgomery said they want to be careful with Soler, particularly when playing on a field with artificial turf. With Trout locked in to the DH spot, the Angels have asked Soler to play right field whenever he’s been in the lineup.
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Jack Kochanowicz, 3-8, 5.44) at Blue Jays (RHP Max Scherzer, 0-0, 4.85), Saturday, 12:07 p.m. PT, FanDuel Sports Network West, 830 AM