TEMPE, Ariz. — Nolan Schanuel continues to look for more bat speed.
The Angels’ first baseman improved his average bat speed by 2.3 mph from 2024 to 2025, which was the sixth-best jump in the majors.
He said he spent his winter doing the same type of drills, while acknowledging that he needs to maintain his swing too.
“I worked on a lot of barrel control too,” he said, “because I feel like with the bat speed, you lose that barrel control because you’re so worried about swinging as hard as you can that you kind of lose the end of the barrel. And the worst thing you could do is hit a bunch of pop-ups. Pop-ups are outs in the big leagues. So just worked on like a good trajectory, keeping it between 10 and 26 (degrees) launch angle. Just worked on that a lot. So far in camp it’s been translating, so I just gotta keep after it.”
Schanuel, 24, is entering his third full season in the majors. He’s shown himself to be a quality hitter, with a .257 average and .348 on-base percentage. The major-league averages were .245 and .315 last year.
Schanuel struck out at a 13% rate last season, better than the major-league average of 22%.
The power, though, has not been up the normal standard of an everyday major-league corner infielder. He’s hit 25 homers in two seasons.
Schanuel said improved bat speed should help his power, with more doubles and homers.
Manager Kurt Suzuki said the power will come, and he doesn’t want Schanuel to chase it at the expense of what makes him a good hitter.
“I’ve played with a lot of guys that learned how to hit when they were younger and as they got older, the power came,” Suzuki said. “But it wasn’t trying to produce it and then your swing gets out of whack, right? Power will come eventually. I feel like with this day and age, everybody’s throwing 100 with a nasty off-speed pitch. You’ve got to learn how to hit. If you have power, but you can’t hit the ball, it doesn’t matter.”
Last season, Schanuel also identified a change in approach that he believed helped him. He said he went to the plate looking for a specific pitch in a specific location, and he was geared up to drive that pitch. He would not swing at anything else, until he got to two strikes. He said he was comfortable giving away strikes because he could protect the plate.
“I think keeping that same mentality at the plate and just carrying it over this year and so far in (live batting practice) it’s worked,” Schanuel said. “So take it over and test it out in spring games as well.”
NO CACTUS LEAGUE TV
The Angels will not be airing any Cactus League games on television this spring, which is a departure from their previous practice of showing nearly all of the exhibition games. They will still show the three Freeway Series games against the Dodgers just before Opening Day.
The change is the result of the Angels’ decision to end their previous contract with Main Street Sports, the financially troubled parent company of FanDuel Sports.
Most teams show only a handful of games in spring training. Angels games will still be available on MLB.tv when the opponent is broadcasting the game.
The Angels will still show their regular-season games on television, although the details are still being determined. The games will be streamed on MLB.tv. The Angels are trying to find an outlet for viewers watching via cable or satellite.
Viewers who are not in Southern California will still be able to watch on MLB.tv, just as they did before.
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Right-hander George Klassen, who can touch 100 mph, said the changeup that he began using at the end of last season remains an encouraging piece of his development.
“So that’s just something I gotta keep on throwing, keep on getting comfortable with,” he said. “I think the changeup’s gonna make the other pitches stand out a lot better and take some stress off the slider so I don’t have to throw it as much.”
The Angels acquired Klassen from the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2024 Carlos Estévez trade. In his first full season in the organization last year, he posted a 5.22 ERA. He started 24 games at Double-A and one at Triple-A.
Klassen’s season was interrupted May 11, when he was hit in the head by a line drive. He went into the concussion protocol and didn’t return for a month. After that, he said, he still was uneasy on the mound.
“I was a little nervous,” Klassen said. “Kind of pulling off, so that was something we worked on a couple weeks after. I got through it. Feeling all right. Head’s in one piece, so we’re good.”
NOTES
Right-hander José Soriano will start the Angels’ Cactus League opener against the Dodgers on Saturday. …
Mike Trout will not play in the first game. “We’re going to mix him in,” Suzuki said. “He’s looking really good. Mike knows his body and he knows what he has to do to get ready and we’ve been in communication every single day about his plan and getting it mapped out.” …
Right-hander Caden Dana, who missed almost a week of workouts because he was sick, still has not thrown a bullpen session. “He’s in great shape,” Suzuki said. “I don’t think it’s going to take him long to get back.” …
Christian Moore worked out at third base for the second straight day, even though Moore’s clearest avenue to an everyday spot is at second. “Just to open up options for him to help the team,” Suzuki said. Even if Moore makes the team as the second baseman, he could be moved to third when Yoán Moncada is not in the lineup.