Nolan Schanuel

Nolan Ryan Schanuel (/ˈʃænjuːɛl/ SHAN-yew-el; born February 14, 2002) is an American professional baseball first baseman and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Florida Atlantic Owls.

Schanuel grew up in the South Florida city of Boynton Beach and attended Park Vista Community High School, where he emerged as a star baseball player. He played three seasons of college baseball at nearby Florida Atlantic, receiving national honors as one of the best players at the amateur level. Schanuel entered the 2023 Major League Baseball draft with consideration as a top prospect and was selected in the first round by the Angels with the 11th overall pick. He made his major league debut 40 days later, the quickest debut for a position player in 45 years.

Nolan Ryan Schanuel was born on February 14, 2002, in Boca Raton, Florida, to Ryan and Erin Schanuel. The third word he ever learned was "ball", and he began hitting with a plastic baseball at 18 months old.

Schanuel grew up in Boynton Beach, Florida and attended Park Vista Community High School. In 2018–19, his junior season, he posted a .446 batting average with 12 extra-base hits, 22 runs batted in (RBIs), and 27 runs scored. Following the season, he was named as a first-team All-American as an outfielder. On November 13, 2019, prior to the start of his 2019–20 senior season, Schanuel signed his National Letter of Intent to play college baseball for the Florida Atlantic Owls. In his final year at Park Vista, Schanuel was batting .520 with 10 RBIs and 14 runs scored before the remainder of the season was canceled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his high school baseball career, Schanuel struck out only 16 times in 175 at-bats, a strikeout rate of 9.14%.

Schanuel enrolled at Florida Atlantic University, 14 miles from his hometown, to play college baseball for the Owls ahead of the 2020–21 academic year. Prior to beginning with the Owls, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Boynton Beach Buccaneers of the South Florida Collegiate Baseball League, where he batted .269 with five RBIs in 23 games.

In his freshman season at FAU, Schanuel played first baseman for the first time in his career. He aided in an opening weekend series victory over the nationally ranked UCF Knights by going 8-for-15 (.533) with a home run and eight RBIs; he later was named Conference USA (C-USA) Hitter of the Week. He had a two-home run game on two occasions, first against the Seton Hall Pirates on February 27 and later against the Charlotte 49ers on April 4.

Schanuel finished his first season batting .343 with 11 home runs and 56 RBIs. He batted .409 with runners in scoring position and walked (28) more than he struck out (21). At first base, he committed only two errors and posted a .996 fielding percentage, the second-highest in FAU history. Following the season, he was named a freshman All-American by the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game USA. He was also named to the all-conference second team. He spent the summer with the Bethesda Big Train of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, batting .333 with three home runs and 24 RBIs in 24 games.

Prior to his 2021–22 sophomore season, Schanuel was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game USA. On April 5, he was named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watchlist, awarded annually to the best player in college baseball.