MLB

Angels’ Nolan Schanuel suffers ‘testicular contusion’ injury on foul ball

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Published April 14, 2024, 1:01 p.m. ET

That’s gonna leave a mark.

Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel suffered a “testicular contusion” on Saturday, manager Ron Washington told reporters, after a foul ball struck him while he was at-bat in the top of the third inning during the team’s loss to the Red Sox in Boston.

Washington said Schanuel, 22, won’t play in Sunday’s series finale but is not expected to go on the injured list.

Washington, who got hung up on the words as he revealed Schanuel’s diagnosis, chuckled a bit afterward before a reporter said it didn’t sound funny.

“It’s not funny, but he’s fine,” Washington said.

Schanuel, who left the game in the bottom of the third, said Sunday morning he was feeling much better, according to the Orange County Register, though he was indeed out of the Angels’ lineup.

Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel suffered a "testicular contusion" after he fouled a ball off himself on Saturday.
Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel suffered a “testicular contusion” after he fouled a ball off himself on Saturday. Bally Sports West

A 2023 first-round pick out of FAU, Schanuel made his MLB debut last August and reached base in all 29 games he appeared in.

The on-base streak to begin his career extended into this season and appeared to reach 36 games, but a retroactive scoring change by MLB that changed a single to an error ended up ending the streak at 30 games, the third-longest to open a career.

The scoring change angered former Mets radio broadcaster Wayne Randazzo, who’s now the TV voice of the Angels.

Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel in pain after suffering a testicular contusion.
Angels first baseman Nolan Schanuel is in pain after suffering a testicular contusion. Bally Sports West

“Negative story after negative story, scandal after scandal,” Randazzo said on the air after the scoring change. “A fiasco in Oakland. You have these ridiculous-looking jerseys. You have the MLBPA challenging the league about the pitch clock — today — because of constant pitcher injuries. Not to mention your global superstar [Shohei Ohtani] is embroiled in a betting scandal. But on top of all of that, you have a young player, trying to make a name for himself, who has come up and reached base safely in every single game that he has played. And the league allows this scoring change to go on to end his streak, kill this story, a positive story that’s happening in Major League Baseball. It is an absurdity.”