Florida Atlantic Professional Athletes

Florida Atlantic's Nolan Schanuel didn't show up on many highlight reels this week — but he showed up when it counted. The Angels first baseman drove in runs in three straight games, batting between .276 and .281 across the stretch as Los Angeles strung together a series of wins against the Royals and Astros.

It started Sunday, Aug. 16, when Schanuel went 3-for-something with an RBI and a .279 average as the Angels edged Kansas City 1-0 — his single providing the only run of the game behind Reid Detmers' dominant eight-inning, 11-strikeout gem. One player, one run, one win: Schanuel's contribution was as efficient as it gets.

He kept it going Wednesday, Aug. 19, going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in a 3-1 Angels victory over Houston — part of a series that saw Los Angeles put up crooked numbers, including an 18-3 shellacking the following Friday. Schanuel added another RBI in that Friday blowout, finishing the week hitting .276 with run contributions across multiple games.

For the week, Schanuel's average hovered in the high .270s — modest by star-player standards, but steady and productive in a lineup that needed consistent on-base presence. He's not flashy. He's effective. And for an Angels team piecing together wins, that's exactly what the lineup needs from its first baseman.

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Cardinals' Pages Has a Quieter Week

FAU catcher Pedro Pages had a more mixed stretch in St. Louis. He collected hits in games against the Reds and Phillies, posting a .210–.213 average range through the week. His most notable appearance came Saturday, Aug. 22, when Pages was used in a pitching role against Philadelphia — logging one inning with one earned run, resulting in a 9.00 ERA for that outing. The experiment reflected the kind of late-game roster flexibility that can define a September callup's role, but it's fair to say Pages' week was defined more by survival than standout play.

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FAU's biggest MLB story this week belongs to Schanuel, and it's a simple one: a former Owl quietly doing his job in a pennant-race-adjacent market, keeping the Angels competitive one RBI at a time. Whether Los Angeles can build on this winning stretch remains to be seen, but Schanuel has given them reason to believe their lineup has a reliable anchor at first base.

Florida Atlantic alumni have been known to make noise at the pro level, but the week of Aug. 9–15 delivered something genuinely rare: two Owls going head-to-head in the same MLB game — and stealing the entire headline between them.

Caglianone Wins the Duel

On Saturday, Aug. 15, FAU first baseman Nolan Schanuel and fellow alum Jac Caglianone — now a Royal — shared a box score at Angel Stadium, and it was Caglianone who walked away with the W. The former FAU slugger went 3-for-3 with a home run and five RBIs, powering Kansas City to a 7–6 victory over Los Angeles. For anyone who watched Caglianone rake in Boca Raton, the power display was entirely on-brand.

Schanuel's Night Deserved Better

The cruel twist? Schanuel was exceptional. The Angels' first baseman went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored — a performance that, on most nights, wins a ballgame. Instead, it came up just short in a one-run defeat that will sting. Schanuel is hitting .273 on the season, and the Aug. 15 game capped a quietly productive week for him: he also collected a hit and an RBI in Wednesday's 3–2 win over the Rangers, and opened the week Sunday against Miami with a hit, an RBI, a run, and three walks. Over the Aug. 9–15 stretch, he reached base consistently and looked every bit like the foundational piece the Angels envisioned when they drafted him.

Pages Checks In

FAU catcher Pedro Pages also made appearances this week for the Cardinals, logging a hit in Tuesday's game against the Phillies and another in Saturday's matchup with the Cubs. Pages is batting .210 on the season — a number he'll want to push north — but continued to get his opportunities behind the plate in St. Louis.

The Bigger Picture

The Schanuel-Caglianone showdown is exactly the kind of storyline that makes alumni fandom compelling. Two players developed in the same program, now on opposite sides of a tight MLB game in August, each delivering genuine impact. Caglianone got the curtain call this time. Schanuel made sure it wasn't easy. FAU fans probably needed a moment after the final out to figure out exactly how to feel — and honestly, that's not a bad problem to have.

FAU in the Majors: Aug. 2–8

Nolan Schanuel is making sure Florida Atlantic's name stays in the MLB conversation. The Angels first baseman delivered the signature moment of the week on Friday, August 7, going deep for a two-run homer in Los Angeles's 4-3 win over the Miami Marlins — a performance that drew headlines from coast to coast.

Schanuel's shot came in what turned into a birthday-themed highlight reel for the Angels: Mike Trout also homered on the same night, celebrating his 35th birthday with his 19th blast of the season. But it was Schanuel who provided the go-ahead punch, driving in two runs and scoring one himself while also drawing a walk. The Owl-turned-Angel finished the night 1-for-his-at-bats with a .273 average — a figure that has held steady through a busy stretch of games.

That steadiness is the real story. Looking at Schanuel's week as a whole, the former FAU standout was quietly productive across multiple series. Against the Orioles (Aug. 4–6), he collected three hits over three games, drove in a run, scored three times, and drew two walks. He followed that up with a hit on Saturday against Miami, extending what has been a consistent presence in the Angels lineup. Through it all, his average hovered around .273–.276 — a sign of a player who isn't just keeping up in the big leagues, he's holding his ground.

The week wasn't entirely about Schanuel. Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages, another FAU alum, popped up in the box score on August 4, going 1-for-his-game against the Yankees and nudging his average to .206. Pages has been working to establish himself behind the plate in St. Louis, and any hit in a tough Yankees matchup is a small win.

No other FAU-affiliated players — including Austin Gomber (Rangers), BJ Murray Jr. (Cubs), Gabriel Rincones Jr. (Phillies), Francisco Urbaez (Reds), Robert Wegielnik (Guardians), or Cody Wilson (Nationals) — surfaced with notable stats during this period.

Still, the week belonged to Schanuel. The kid from Boca Raton hit a big-league homer in the same game as Mike Trout, helped the Angels get a win, and did it with the kind of quiet, week-in-week-out production that doesn't always make the highlight reel but absolutely makes a roster. FAU fans have every reason to keep watching the Angels' box scores.