Angels' Nolan Schanuel just added fuel to the fire for team’s plans for first rounder

From the moment that the Los Angeles Angels picked Christian Moore in the first round of the 2024 MLB draft, it was inevitable that the organization was going to be extremely aggressive with him. LA loves nothing more than blasting hitting prospects through the minor leagues quickly, and with Moore's rapid promotion to Double-A, it seemed like the Angels were at it once again.

Making Moore's rise even more remarkable is that he hasn't seemed to blink when challenged by the Angels. While he has only played in six gamesm which is a very small sample, his extremely loud .481/.517/1.000 line with four homers garnered a lot of attention.

One pair of eyes that Moore has intrigued is the Angels' Nolan Schanuel. Schanuel was not only familiar with Moore from playing against him in college, but he was glowing in his assessment of him to the point where he already thinks Moore will do quite well in the big leagues.

Christian Moore has already impressed his future Angels teammates

While Schanuel stopped short of lobbying for Moore to be called up to the big leagues, he did point out that the Angels reward prospects for performing well and that thought that "[Moore] has the tools to be where I’m at and where everybody is in this locker room.” It doesn't getting much better in terms of endorsements than that.

Coming off a two-homer game this week, speculation that the Angels could call Moore up soon is only getting louder. There are completely fair arguments against rushing Moore to the big leagues, especially since the Angels aren't likely to be in the playoff picture either way. However, LA operates to the beat of their own drum, so it may be more helpful to understand when the Angels could call him up.

It is highly unlikely that the Angels would promote him before August 16 as they would likely want to have him keep his rookie eligibility in 2025 just in case he finishes in the top-two of the Rookie of the Year voting and subsequently gives LA an extra draft pick. Even later than that is likely because Moore getting over 130 plate appearances in the big leagues this year encounters a similar problem.

All of this points to a September call up for Moore, at the earliest. No one would blame the Angels for pumping the brakes a bit and waiting until 2025 for his debut, as that is what most sane teams would do. However, that doesn't sound like LA's modus operandi at all as Moore continues to force the issue.

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