Who is Nolan Schanuel? Angels rush 2023 first-round pick to majors one month after draft

Heading into the 2023 MLB Draft, scouts praised the bat of Florida Atlantic first baseman Nolan Schanuel. His ability to make consistent, hard contact with a balanced approach gave plenty the feeling he could be a fast riser to the majors.

The Angels are showing just how fast that can truly be. ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Friday that the team is promoting Schanuel to the majors just over a month after the 2023 MLB Draft, during which Schanuel was selected 11th overall.

For those keeping track at home, that now makes back-to-back-to-back drafts in which an Angels player was the first from his respective draft class to reach the big leagues. Chase Silseth, an 11th-round selection in 2021, debuted in 2022, and has been a steady pitching presence for the team in 2023. Zach Neto, the former Campbell shortstop taken 12th overall in 2022, debuted in April 2023 and has held down Los Angeles' starting shortstop role.

Even for the biggest Schanuel proponents, though, this promotion has to seem aggressive. He has just 96 professional plate appearances, though he has raked in the minors to date. It seems the Angels, who sit 12.5 games out of first and seven games out of a wild card, are pulling out all the stops to try and push their way to the playoffs before Shohei Ohtani hits free agency.

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Schanuel's promotion comes on a day in which several teams might opt to call up top prospects. Players on the active roster for more than 45 days lose rookie eligibility. However, there are exactly 45 days left in the season, meaning Schanuel will gain MLB experience while still qualifying as a rookie in 2024.

Who is Schanuel, and how does he rank among the fastest players to reach the majors? Here's what you need to know.

Nolan Schanuel scouting report

Hits, hits, hits. That's the m-o on Schanuel. If the competition in Conference USA were better, the stats would have drawn more attention as the Florida Atlantic first baseman was among all Division I leaders with a slash line of .447/.615/.868. He walked 71 times and struck out just 14 times. He also hit 19 home runs and swiped 14 bases.

The power and speed numbers might allude to a potential five-tool talent, but that isn't quite Schanuel's game. He doesn't possess as much raw power as might be expected of someone who is likely to be limited to first base or a corner outfield position in the big leagues, and his speed will never make him anything more than an occasional base-stealing threat.

But if there's one thing the Angels can count on, it's that he's going to hit, and hit well. Even in the minors, he walked 11 more times than he struck out, an impressive feat for a player getting his first taste of professional baseball. That approach, combined with his ability to make consistent contact, gives him a high floor as a solid big-league regular.

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The big questions around Schanuel will be how much power he taps into in his 6-4, 220-pound frame. There's certainly some power to be unlocked, but if he doesn't hit more than 15 home runs in a season, his upside will be limited. Defensively, he can handle a corner outfield spot, but it's more likely he winds up staying at first base, where he has played exclusively in the minors.

Nolan Schanuel stats

Schanuel finished the 2023 college baseball season second in batting average at .447, first in on-base percentage at .615, second in slugging percentage at .868 and tied for first with LSU's Dylan Crews with 71 walks, though he played in 12 fewer games than Crews.

Schanuel's throttling of pitchers has continued into his professional debut, with him posting some eye-popping numbers that led to his aggressive promotion.

Fastest players to reach MLB after draft

It should be no surprise that Schanuel is one of the fastest players in MLB history to go from the draft to the majors. The record, however, was always going to be next to impossible to beat.

Back in 1972, the Padres made Dave Roberts (not the current Dodgers manager) the first overall pick on June 6. On June 7, the former Oregon third baseman signed with San Diego and made his MLB debut, becoming the first — and to date only — player to reach the majors one day after being drafted.

Since then, only three other position players have made it to the majors faster than Schanuel, according to Baseball America's JJ Cooper:

All of those promotions before Schanuel came during the first 15 years of the draft, which was established in 1965. The five players listed are also the only five position players to debut the same year they were drafted.

The last time a player debuted in the majors the same year as the draft was White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet, a hard-throwing pitcher from Tennessee who was drafted and debuted in 2020. However, that was also possible because there was no minor-league season and the college campaign was cut short due to COVID-19, meaning Crochet had barely thrown during the 2020 season.