Sources - Angels call up '23 first-rounder Nolan Schanuel - ESPN

In the fastest big league promotion in decades, the Los Angeles Angels are calling up first baseman Nolan Schanuel less than six weeks after taking him with the 11th pick in the draft, sources told ESPN on Friday.

The 21-year-old Schanuel, who has logged fewer than 100 minor league plate appearances across 21 games and was at Double-A before his call-up, is the latest player summoned by the Angels to salvage a season with dimming playoff hopes on the verge of Shohei Ohtani's free agency.

The Angels are 60-62 and seven games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the final American League wild-card spot.

Schanuel was considered perhaps the most advanced bat in a renowned 2023 draft after hitting .447/.615/.868 with 19 home runs, 71 walks and just 14 strikeouts in 289 plate appearances at Florida Atlantic University this season. Still, he was not expected to be the first player since the 20th century to debut so soon, following just 40 days in the minor leagues.

Outside of Ariel Prieto — a 25-year-old Cuban who arrived within a month of being drafted in 1995 — Schanuel's debut is the fastest since 1979, when Texas promoted left-hander Jerry Don Gleaton, according to ESPN Stats & Information. The last position players to come to the big leagues this quickly were Atlanta third baseman Bob Horner (10 days) and Toronto catcher Brian Milner (17 days) in 1978.

Nolan Schanuel's ascension to the Angels just 40 days after being drafted is the fifth-fastest among position players in MLB Draft history.

The last player to debut this early in his drafted season was Chris Sale, who came up Aug. 6, 2010 — about two months after the draft, which was moved to July in recent years. Schanuel's ascent is even more rapid, though it does align with