HOUSTON — Nolan Schanuel has set a lofty goal for himself.
“I think that if I really put in the focus and the time, I think I could be a batting title winner,” the Angels’ first baseman said.
Schanuel came into Wednesday’s game hitting .281, which ranked 12th in the American League. He was well behind Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, who was hitting .318 and chasing a Triple Crown.
Alvarez was one of only three American League players hitting .300. Schanuel said that milestone is another of his goals.
“It’s definitely something that I’ve got to work on,” he said. “If I put the time and focus into it, I think I could be in the conversation of (winning a batting title).”
Ever since Schanuel got to the major leagues, the conversation has been his lack of power. He has acknowledged working to improve his bat speed and exit velocities. So far, those numbers have increased slightly, but the balls still aren’t going over the fence. He has seven home runs this season, which is slightly behind the pace he set when he hit 12 last season.
Schanuel said he’s not abandoning efforts to improve his exit velocities, regardless of the homer numbers.
“It wouldn’t hurt to hit a 110 mph line drive into the gap,” Schanuel said. “I think that’s something I have to focus on in the offseason.”
For now, though, Schanuel said he’s more interested in using the whole field to get more hits.
“If I get jammed and I hit a ball at 80 mph at 16 degrees and it falls over the shortstop’s head, that’s better than a 100 mph ground ball to second base,” he said. “I think focusing on that now instead of exit velo has helped me out tremendously.”
Schanuel’s average is up from the .259 mark he brought into this season. He said when he was hurt in June he had discussions with hitting coach Brady Anderson about what kind of hitter he wanted to be.
Schanuel has specifically improved with runners in scoring position, which the Angels have desperately needed. Their offense has been among the worst in the majors this month, outside of Schanuel.
From the start of the season through July 8, he hit .178 with a .489 OPS with runners in scoring position. Since then, he’s hit .345 with an .800 OPS. He has struck out just once in his last 38 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.
He had hits in all four of his plate appearances with runners in scoring position in his last three games, driving in six of the Angels’ 10 runs.
A part of that is simply that he’s hit better in all situations since his ankle stopped bothering him. It’s also a different mindset with runners on base.
“I’m not putting too much pressure on myself with runners on second or third,” Schanuel said. “Just really thinking about doing the job instead of pressuring myself into, ‘Oh, there’s two outs, there’s a guy at second, I need to do it.’ Just taking the weight off my shoulders. Just play the game.”
NATERA UPDATE
Left-hander Samy Natera Jr. said he’s still not 100% since feeling tightness in his back while warming up on Saturday.
“It’s feeling better every day,” Natera said on Wednesday, before attempting to throw to evaluate his availability for the game. “Just trying to get back as soon as I can.”
Natera said this is the first time he’s had a problem “in this specific spot.”
Natera has been one of the breakthrough performers in the bullpen this season, posting a 2.00 ERA in his first 27 innings, with 42 strikeouts. He’s currently the Angels’ best left-handed reliever and one of two pitchers they are using to close games. The other, Ben Joyce, is not being used in back-to-back games because the Angels are trying to be careful with him in the wake of his shoulder surgery.
NOTES
On Tuesday night, right-hander George Klassen became the third Angels pitcher to throw seven or more scoreless innings while allowing one hit within his first five career starts. The last one to do it was Shohei Ohtani, in 2018. Bo Belinsky did it in 1962.
Second baseman Christian Moore was a single short of hitting for the cycle for Triple-A Salt Lake on Tuesday night. Moore is hitting .309 with a .962 OPS at Triple-A, including an OPS of 1.151 in his last nine games. Moore slumped initially after he was sent down on June 30, but he’s having a strong August. “I think the positive thing is he didn’t pout,” Suzuki said. “He got back to work and kept doing his thing and really put himself in a good position.”
UP NEXT
Angels (RHP Grayson Rodriguez, 3-5, 7.17 ERA) at Astros (RHP Peter Lambert, 8-6, 3.11 ERA), Thursday, 5:10 p.m. PT, ABTV, 830 AM