The Los Angeles Angels suffered a potentially tough loss on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins, as first baseman Nolan Schanuel left the game in the fourth inning after fouling a ball off of his right knee. The official injury he was diagnosed with was a right knee contusion, but there is always fear of worse with an injury like that.
Schanuel is not in the lineup for the Angels’ series finale against the Twins on Sunday, leading to some speculation about whether or not he is going to need a stint on the injured list with the knee injury.
But Angels manager Ron Washington is not ready to make those types of determinations yet, as the training staff still needs to take a closer look at the first baseman, via Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com:
“We have no information on that yet,” Washington said after the game. “He’s still getting testing.”
On Sunday, Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register spoke with Schanuel, who provided some good news:
He says he’s feeling a lot better today. Just day to day. The Angels are off on Monday.
— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) April 27, 2025
This is most certainly good news for the Angels, as Schanuel is one of the building blocks of not only their offense this season, but for years to come. Sustaining a knee injury in the middle of a difficult slide for the Angels could have been an early death sentence for the Halos.
After the Angels’ off day on Monday, it will be interesting to see if Schanuel is back in the lineup or if he needs some extra time. The Angels are in Washington for a two-game set against the Seattle Mariners starting Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. PT.
Angels aren’t down on themselves amid slump
The Angels began the season with a 7-3 record, and looked to have actually made some strides in their goal to be competitive for the postseason in 2025. Washington seemed to have developed a quick rapport with both his young players and the new veterans, and the vibes around the clubhouse were higher than previous seasons.
But the Angels have now lost 11 of their last 16 games and stand at 12-14 through 26 games. The rapport in the clubhouse is still high, but that’s about the only positive marker for the Angels at the moment.
It’s an offensive slump, without a doubt. But Washington is not concerned, and he feels the players are not concerned either.
