Nolan Schanuel Is Heating Up — And WaiverScout Has Been Watching
Nolan Schanuel is putting together the best stretch of his season, and the numbers aren't subtle. A .422 wOBA over the last seven days, a strikeout rate that's cratered to 8.7%, and consistent at-bats in the middle of the Angels' lineup. At just 10% rostered, this is a window — not a fire alarm, but a window you should be paying attention to.
The Rolling Window Tells the Story
Zoom out and watch the trend lines sharpen. Over the last 30 days, Schanuel posted a .263 AVG with a .353 wOBA — fine, not exciting. Over 14 days, those numbers climbed to .323 and .407. And in the last seven days? He's slashing .350 with that .422 wOBA across 23 plate appearances. This isn't a two-game blip. This is a rising curve over a meaningful stretch.
The plate discipline is the foundation. His strikeout rate has dropped from 12.8% over 30 days to just 8.7% over the last week, while his walk rate has ticked up to 13.0%. That's elite-level contact ability paired with patience. Over 39 plate appearances in his last five games, Schanuel struck out just twice. Twice. Look at his game log — he's gone 7-for-20 in his last five starts with a homer, putting the ball in play consistently and making hard contact when he does.
The Batted Ball Data Supports It
This isn't empty average. Schanuel's exit velocity has climbed to 92.1 mph over the last seven days, up from 89.3 mph over 30 days — a meaningful jump. His hard-hit rate tells the same story: 43.8% over the last week versus 34.4% over 30 days. He's not just making contact — he's barreling the ball with increasing authority. The quality of contact is trending in the right direction across every rolling window, and at 39 PA, we have a solid enough sample to trust the trajectory.
WaiverScout Called This Early
We first flagged Schanuel back on April 6 and again on May 21 as a watch candidate. After a brief deprioritize period in early June, we moved him back to watch status on June 14 — and the signal has only strengthened since. That's two months of tracking this player's underlying skills, waiting for the performance to catch up. It's catching up now.
The Ownership Window
Schanuel sits at 10% rostered with zero ownership velocity — meaning most managers haven't noticed yet. Yahoo featured him as a waiver target back in late March when he was rostered at 23%, but interest faded. Now the underlying numbers are better than they were then, and the roster percentage is lower. That's a market inefficiency.
At the first base position, you might be comparing him to names like TJ Rumfield, Nick Kurtz, or Paul Goldschmidt on your waiver wire. Schanuel's combination of contact skills and rising hard-hit metrics makes him a compelling alternative if your current first baseman is underperforming.
Verdict: Watch
The data is clear — Schanuel is trending in the right direction across every meaningful metric. The wOBA is up, the strikeout rate is down, exit velocity and hard-hit rate are climbing, and he's seeing consistent playing time with 23 PA over the last seven days. The reason this remains a watch rather than an add is the overall body of work: his 30-day numbers are merely solid, not spectacular, and we want to see the hard-hit rate sustain above 40% for another week or two before pounding the table. But if you're in a deeper league or need first base help, there's enough here to justify an early move. Add him to your watchlist now. If this trend holds through next week, the ownership percentage won't be 10% for long.