ANAHEIM, Calif. — Just as Nolan Schanuel 's season started to take form, it was taken from him.
After a calf injury plagued the beginning of his season, Schanuel took off once he finally healed. A summer heater brought his numbers up to a .276 average with a .736 OPS, but that is where the progress will stop for this season.
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said before Friday night's game that Schanuel isn't expected to return from his right intercostal muscle strain after having a set back during his rehab assignment.
"Just went on a rehab assignment and it wasn't feeling any better," Schanuel said. "Came back and talked to (head athletic trainer Mike Frostad) and the training staff, and they just thought it was best to take it easy and get back to being healthy."
Schanuel originally landed on the injured list on August 21 and began his rehab assignment in Triple-A Salt Lake on Sunday, but was scratched from his game on Wednesday. He said he felt something right away in the first inning of his last rehab assignment game, and it bothered him doing any baseball activity. After taking a day to try and let it go away, the irritation lingered and he came back to Anaheim to talk to the Angels' training staff to figure out the next steps.
He finishes his season hitting .301 with a .789 OPS in his final 50 games played.
"He started the year a little slower, battled some injuries, some nagging stuff," Suzuki said. "Once he got healthy, that's when you saw him take off. I mean, it was line drive after line drive. It was pretty impressive."
Although it's still lingering, Schanuel isn't concerned about this injury impacting his offseason. With the injuries and the hot stretch to end his season, Schanuel said he's learned a lot about himself this season, and knows what he needs to work on this winter.
"I think just understanding that I can be a really good contact bat in the lineup," Schanuel said. "Hit for a high average, get on base and power will come. I think if my power shows in doubles, then that's the kind of hitter I have to be.
The good news... Left-hander Samy Natera Jr.'s MRI results came back clean with no damage. He avoids any surgery and is on track for a normal offseason. He is still talking with the training staff about next steps, but he said it looks like six weeks of rehab and then build up arm strength like a normal offseason.
The bad news... the Angels placed Kyren Paris on the 10-day injured list with a right index finger fracture retroactive to September 15. Paris said he injured his finger fielding ground balls before Thursday's game and is expected to be out for three to four weeks. It ends his season, but he will have a normal offseason.
Friday is also Ducks night at Angel Stadium, which is an annual event where members of the Anaheim Ducks come out to the game, hit batting practice before the game and throw out the first pitch as the team gets ready to begin training camp.
Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, Beckett Sennecke, Tim Washe and Sam Colangelo were this year's batting practice participants from the Ducks, with A.J. Greer and Nick Jensen also hanging out.
As each player took swings, they began to realize baseball is harder than it may look.
"It's tough," Gauthier said. "It's far. It's a lot farther in person than it is over the TV."
"It's hard," Sennecke said. "It looks close, but it's farther than it looks."
Colangelo was one of the few that put together some quality swings. He grew up in Boston a massive Red Sox fan, and he played baseball until he was 12 years old.
Gauthier was another player that flirted with hitting a home run, but a couple of them fell short onto the warning track.
Carlssson and Gauthier are tabbed with throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before the game. Carlsson, however, has never thrown a baseball in his life.
He said he went to Dicks Sporting Goods on Thursday to buy a baseball "just to feel one for once."
"I just want to get it there," Carlsson said. "If it goes over, left, right, I don't care. I just gotta not skip one."
