Are the Angels putting Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto in position for long-term success?

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Are the Angels putting Nolan Schanuel and Zach Neto in position for long-term success?

It was hard for Nolan Schanuel not to look out at the right-field scoreboard. This is the big leagues, after all, and those massive monitors are difficult to miss.

He was in an offensive slog last week amid a Los Angeles Angels series against the Tampa Bay Rays — the Angels first baseman’s batting average dipped to .065. He acknowledged that day it was tough to have the statistical reminders in his face every time he instinctively looked up.

“Mentally, a little bit, I was struggling,” Schanuel said while sitting in the dugout before a game in Tampa Bay last week. “But I try to move past it. It’s a mental game. Once you get past those little hiccups, it’s all physical. And I’m trying to make it as less mental as possible.”

The Angels called up — and some could argue rushed up — their two youngest players last season. Schanuel, 22, was in the middle of Conference USA play at Florida Atlantic last year at this time. Zach Neto, 23, had just 48 minor-league games under his belt before his big-league debut.

Both players clearly have bright MLB futures. Both carry themselves like major leaguers. They are professionals, without a doubt. Potential All-Stars someday.

But both have been very poor offensively to start 2024. Schanuel’s four-game hit streak has elevated his average to .190 with a .545 OPS. He has just one extra-base hit in 69 plate appearances. Neto’s OPS is at just .449 and he’s striking out 34.7 percent of the time.

It begs the question of whether the Angels are helping or hurting their top young players by placing the inherent pressures of starting jobs on their shoulders.

“They’re young players,” Angels general manager Perry Minasian said last week when asked that question. “You look around baseball, there’s a lot of players that haven’t gotten off to great starts that are good players. … Keep playing and see where it goes.”

Angels hitting coach Johnny Washington declined an interview request to discuss their offense and the work they’re doing to improve.

However, the organization has faith in their ability to figure things out. Then again, the Angels might not have much of a choice. Minasian did very little to address infield depth this offseason.

And that depth is already being tested. The injury-prone Anthony Rendon went on the injured list on Sunday with a left hamstring strain. That required the team to call up Ehire Adrianza — further depleting the already minimal options the Angels had, further requiring Schanuel and Neto to work through their offensive woes in an everyday MLB capacity, regardless of the long-term cost.


Zach Neto is batting .167/.241/.208 with four stolen bases in six attempts. (Rich Storry / Getty Images)

At shortstop, the Angels traded David Fletcher in a salary dump move with the Atlanta Braves and recently designated shortstop Livan Soto for assignment. Infielder Michael Stefanic (groin) is out indefinitely. At first base, the Angels could slide Brandon Drury to first, but that would also stretch the infield options even thinner.

The next best options might be Cole Tucker (career .584 OPS) or Elliot Soto — a 34-year-old infielder who played three games with the Angels in 2020 but wasn’t with a club this spring.

The organization is barren for MLB-ready players. So the Angels will ride with two guys who they hope rise to the occasion. At this point, they’re not considering any other options. In part because they don’t have many.

“You have to give these kids an opportunity to struggle and see how they handle struggle, and see how they can recover from struggle,” manager Ron Washington said on April 10. “You can’t just keep pulling them from struggle. We’re not in a rebuild stage. But we are trying to build courage, integrity, grit. We’re trying to build that type of stuff.”

The Angels have been operating in between this season — wanting to develop their younger players while remaining competitive.

If this was a true throwaway season, the results might matter less. But even in that situation, the concern would be over shattering a young player’s confidence by putting him in a difficult position.

Then there’s the flip side. A demotion could feel like a punitive punishment, even if that’s not the intention or purpose.

The Angels have first-hand experience with this dilemma. Jo Adell was called up in 2020 as a highly touted prospect, at just 21 years old, likely before he was ready. He struck 55 times in 132 plate appearances that year. He’s been optioned to Triple A six times since, and it’s hard to separate the chaotic back-and-forth from his struggle to become the budding star that once felt inevitable.

Baseball, with all its failures, is a mental game. And the players, amid their struggles, are mature enough to understand that.

“I got a text message with an article about the 85 percent rule. It was about track athletes, and them using the 85 percent rule to stay loose, stay fluid,” Neto said.

“When they get to 100 percent, they’re stiff and they tend to slow down. I got that reference to use it for myself. Go out there, and not be at 100 percent all the time and still play the best game.”

Both players have shown a high capability. Neto posted a .751 OPS in his first 63 MLB games. Schanuel reached base in the first 30 games of his big-league career.

Neto is an MLB-caliber shortstop. A well above-average one, at that. And there’s value in having him out there every day, simply for his glove. Schanuel has also made big strides defensively.

The question isn’t whether they can be on a major-league field. They’ll both hold their own, but can this organization put them in a good position for the Angels’ present and the players’ futures?

Neto’s hard-hit rate is just 28.9 percent, down from 40.3 percent last year. His popup and ground-ball rates have skyrocketed. He’s chasing 35.6 percent of the time, compared to 25.2 percent last year.

Schanuel has been overly passive, swinging on just 35.7 percent of pitches, 12 percent below the MLB average. His line-drive rate is 12.8 percent, compared to a 24.8 percent league average.

It’s important to understand that these players are the cornerstones of this franchise’s future. If they weren’t so critical to the Angels’ plans, this conversation wouldn’t be necessary. Other hitters in the Angels lineup that are struggling — some quite a bit. But it matters less to the team’s future if Aaron Hicks (.426 OPS) or Drury (.547 OPS) have a hard time.

Maybe things will come together for them at the big-league level. But the Angels front office has given themselves little option but to hope that happens. Leaving the players on an island to figure it out with everyone watching.

“The makeup on these players are A-plus-plus in our eyes,” Minasian said. “So we’re not worried about that.”

(Top photo of Nolan Schanuel: Julio Aguilar / Getty Images)