Chicago Cubs News: How Nolan Schanuel's aggressive promotion by the Angels could change baseball

The Chicago Cubs are a patient organization. I’ve beat the drum all season long that the reason that you draft a college hitter rather than any other option is that a college hitter can move through your system more quickly than just about any alternative with the lone exception being a really polished college reliever with a good two-pitch repertoire.

That being said, even the most aggressive move in recent memory that the Cubs have made is conservative in comparison to what the Los Angeles Angels have done over the weekend. 

In 2018 the Chicago Cubs drafted Nico Hoerner. He flew through the minor leagues spending time in Arizona in the Rookie League, (then) Low-A Eugene, and High-A South Bend in his draft year. He then spent almost the entire season in AA Tennessee in 2019 before becoming the first member of his draft class to be called up to Chicago just 96 games into his professional career. That is a rapid development process.

If that’s a rapid development process, then I’m not sure that there are strong enough words in the English language to describe the speed with which the Angels are burning players through their system. According to the Athletic, the Angles have called up three players from their 2022 draft class (all of which are the first three players from that class to make it to the majors), and they’ve now done something even crazier by calling up their 2023 first-round pick, first baseman Nolan Schanuel. 

I wrote about how Nolan Schanuel would be a good fit on the North Side prior to the draft and that he could move quickly but I don’t think anyone could have expected him to move this quickly. It took Nico Hoerner nearly 100 games to receive the call to Wriglely and Schanuel did it in 21. He spent three games in Rookie Ball, two games at High-A Inland Empire, and just 16 games at AA Rocket City. 

It shouldn’t be a shock that Schanuel moved so quickly though. Between Zachary Neto (44), Ben Joyce (27), and Victor Mederos (24), the three Angels from the 2022 draft class to receive the call played fewer games combined than Hoerner did before his extremely early promotion. 

We shall see what the long-term implications of a move (or series of moves) like this will have on the Angels’ organization and the league as a whole. For now, suffice it to say, the Cubs run their farm a little differently.

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